Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Stock

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) had its price target boosted by Barclays from $116.00 to $123.00 in a research note released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an underweight rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $147.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Citigroup dropped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Wedbush lowered Williams-Sonoma from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Loop Capital lifted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of 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 report on Wednesday, September 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $154.41.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 0.3 %

WSM opened at $171.98 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $21.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.34, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.76. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $143.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $144.87. Williams-Sonoma has a 52 week low of $90.31 and a 52 week high of $181.42.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.81 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma will post 8.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.97%.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total value of $1,494,726.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,150 shares in the company, valued at $2,040,099. This represents a 42.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.49, for a total transaction of $5,219,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 990,956 shares in the company, valued at $129,309,848.44. This represents a 3.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 91,100 shares of company stock valued at $12,525,126 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. EntryPoint Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 520.0% in the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 93 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Smithfield Trust Co grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% during the third quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 160 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. 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.