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

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

WSM has been the subject of several other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a sell rating to a neutral rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $154.00 to $263.00 in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $220.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Wedbush restated an outperform rating and set a $330.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Barclays raised their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $146.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a market perform rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $249.31.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE WSM opened at $314.18 on Tuesday. Williams-Sonoma has a 12 month low of $109.44 and a 12 month high of $317.65. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $237.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $195.61. The stock has a market cap of $20.14 billion, a PE ratio of 21.56, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.66.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.06 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.22 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 12.25% and a return on equity of 55.15%. The company’s revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.50 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma will post 15.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a $1.13 dividend. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 24.71%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total transaction of $330,973.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,013,591.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $2,013,591.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total value of $5,674,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 505,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $143,433,123.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,145 shares of company stock worth $10,044,174. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. MCF Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 129.3% in the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 188 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 863.6% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 212 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 820.0% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 230 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.