Hook Mill Capital Partners LP Buys 71,044 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Hook Mill Capital Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 47.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 220,622 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 71,044 shares during the quarter. Williams-Sonoma makes up 3.5% of Hook Mill Capital Partners LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Hook Mill Capital Partners LP owned 0.18% of Williams-Sonoma worth $36,043,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. III Capital Management acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,124,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 110.4% in the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,228 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $527,000 after buying an additional 1,694 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 4.0% in the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 2,626 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $429,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 32.0% during the second quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 129,182 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $21,104,000 after acquiring an additional 31,310 shares during the period. Finally, Boothbay Fund Management LLC raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 57.3% during the second quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 57,104 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $9,329,000 after acquiring an additional 20,808 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,153 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.84, for a total transaction of $626,942.52. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 34,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,787,999.92. This trade represents a 8.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 126,653 shares of company stock valued at $24,724,440 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WSM opened at $187.39 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $186.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $184.14. The company has a market capitalization of $22.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.55. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1 year low of $130.07 and a 1 year high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 19th. The specialty retailer reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.09. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.30% and a return on equity of 53.10%. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.86 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.96 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 17th were given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 17th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WSM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Telsey Advisory Group decreased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $225.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $206.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $202.00 to $188.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $181.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.00.

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.