Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Earns Outperform Rating from Telsey Advisory Group

Telsey Advisory Group restated their outperform rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) in a research note released on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $165.00 target price on the specialty retailer’s stock.

WSM has been the subject of several other reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised Williams-Sonoma from a hold rating to a buy rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $148.00 to $156.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an in-line rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $232.00 to $116.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $140.83.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 1.8 %

WSM opened at $144.35 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $18.57 billion, a PE ratio of 17.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.74. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $141.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $146.59. Williams-Sonoma has a fifty-two week low of $71.56 and a fifty-two week high of $174.26.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.13. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 51.57%. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.56 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma will post 7.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 28.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total value of $5,810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,030,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $149,766,978.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total value of $5,810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,030,956 shares in the company, valued at $149,766,978.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total transaction of $1,494,726.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,040,099. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Williams-Sonoma

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 28.6% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 964,910 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $272,462,000 after buying an additional 214,669 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 823,692 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $232,613,000 after purchasing an additional 43,607 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 37.5% in the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 704,919 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $223,833,000 after purchasing an additional 192,432 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 536.3% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 383,700 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $108,345,000 after purchasing an additional 323,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 73.4% during the 2nd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 380,383 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $107,409,000 after purchasing an additional 161,000 shares during the last quarter. 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.