Evercore ISI Increases Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Price Target to $320.00

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) had its target price hoisted by Evercore ISI from $300.00 to $320.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an in-line rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

WSM has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wedbush reissued an outperform rating and issued a $330.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com raised Williams-Sonoma from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a sell rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Oppenheimer reissued a market perform rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Williams-Sonoma from a sell rating to a neutral rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $154.00 to $263.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $249.31.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE:WSM opened at $317.53 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $241.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $197.67. The firm has a market cap of $20.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.79, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.66. Williams-Sonoma has a 52-week low of $109.44 and a 52-week high of $319.70.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.06 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 55.15% and a net margin of 12.25%. Williams-Sonoma’s revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.50 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma will post 15.37 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a $1.13 dividend. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is presently 24.71%.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total value of $330,973.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,013,591.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.92, for a total transaction of $4,038,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 525,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $106,110,777.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total value of $330,973.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,013,591.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 43,329 shares of company stock valued at $10,729,906. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the third quarter worth approximately $4,102,000. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 11.5% during the third quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 20,711 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,218,000 after purchasing an additional 2,128 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 1.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,456,161 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $226,287,000 after purchasing an additional 18,004 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 3.2% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,142,272 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $142,944,000 after acquiring an additional 35,315 shares during the period. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

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.