Evercore ISI Cuts Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Price Target to $175.00

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) had its price objective lowered by Evercore ISI from $180.00 to $175.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Evercore ISI currently has an in-line rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Williams-Sonoma to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Wedbush reduced their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $140.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $177.60.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of WSM stock opened at $158.80 on Tuesday. Williams-Sonoma has a 52 week low of $125.33 and a 52 week high of $219.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.61 billion, a PE ratio of 18.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $192.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $174.07.

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

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is 29.30%.

Insider Activity

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.79, for a total value of $6,020,166.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,690,666.52. This represents a 43.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 944,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. The trade was a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 112,720 shares of company stock worth $20,616,369. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WSM. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 94.8% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 19,535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,026,000 after acquiring an additional 9,509 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 5.1% in 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 during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 48.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 527,740 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $97,875,000 after acquiring an additional 172,409 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 316,535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $58,616,000 after purchasing an additional 3,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TCW Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,958,000. 99.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.