Brokerages Set Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Target Price at $178.93

Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eighteen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have assigned a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $178.93.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WSM. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $226.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Baird R W upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Wedbush dropped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 0.0 %

WSM opened at $147.95 on Tuesday. Williams-Sonoma has a 52 week low of $125.33 and a 52 week high of $219.98. The stock has a market cap of $18.27 billion, a PE ratio of 17.50, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76. The business has a 50 day moving average of $179.22 and a 200-day moving average of $173.66.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.44 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total value of $1,212,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,501,002.65. This represents a 32.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total value of $9,349,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 944,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $196,263,808.16. This represents a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 120,720 shares of company stock worth $21,828,609 in the last three months. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WSM. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 94.8% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 19,535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,026,000 after purchasing an additional 9,509 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 109,359 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $20,251,000 after buying an additional 5,337 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 48.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 527,740 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $97,875,000 after acquiring an additional 172,409 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 316,535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $58,616,000 after acquiring an additional 3,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 132.0% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,905 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $723,000 after acquiring an additional 2,222 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Company Profile

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.