Williams-Sonoma’s (WSM) “Buy (B-)” Rating Reiterated at Weiss Ratings

Weiss Ratings restated their buy (b-) rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) in a research report released on Wednesday morning,Weiss Ratings reports.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.11.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 4.2%

WSM opened at $181.42 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $22.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.55. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $198.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.26. Williams-Sonoma has a 12 month low of $125.33 and a 12 month high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 27th. The specialty retailer reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $1.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 54.47% and a net margin of 14.54%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.74 earnings per share. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 17th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is 29.04%.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 90,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.17, for a total transaction of $18,015,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 876,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $175,534,477.59. This represents a 9.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.79, for a total value of $695,765.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 14,003 shares in the company, valued at $2,783,656.37. This trade represents a 20.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 144,153 shares of company stock worth $27,946,408 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Williams-Sonoma

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WSM. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 21.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,630,310 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,471,152,000 after purchasing an additional 2,797,562 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $212,107,000. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 184.3% in the 3rd quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 861,236 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $167,927,000 after purchasing an additional 558,311 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter worth approximately $85,075,000. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 740.4% in the 2nd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 591,690 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $96,664,000 after purchasing an additional 521,283 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is 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.