Loop Capital Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Stock

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) had its price target raised by Loop Capital from $145.00 to $180.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Loop Capital currently has a hold rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

WSM has been the subject of several other reports. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $158.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $136.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $154.41.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WSM opened at $171.98 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $143.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $144.82. Williams-Sonoma has a 1 year low of $90.31 and a 1 year high of $181.42. The company has a market capitalization of $21.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.76.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.13. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.56 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma will post 8.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th were given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.97%.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total transaction of $1,494,726.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,040,099. This represents a 42.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total value of $5,810,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,030,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $149,766,978.12. This represents a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 91,100 shares of company stock worth $12,525,126 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 520.0% in the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 93 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the second quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Smithfield Trust Co grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% during the third quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 160 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Williams-Sonoma

Williams-Sonoma, Inc operates as an omni-channel specialty retailer of various products for home. It offers cooking, dining, and entertaining products, such as cookware, tools, electrics, cutlery, tabletop and bar, outdoor, furniture, and a library of cookbooks under the Williams Sonoma Home brand, as well as home furnishings and decorative accessories under the Williams Sonoma lifestyle brand; and furniture, bedding, lighting, rugs, table essentials, and decorative accessories under the Pottery Barn brand.