Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) released its earnings results on Wednesday. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.40, Briefing.com reports. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.44 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Williams-Sonoma updated its FY 2025 guidance to EPS.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 0.6 %

WSM opened at $165.29 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $197.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $171.83. Williams-Sonoma has a 52 week low of $125.33 and a 52 week high of $219.98. The stock has a market cap of $20.35 billion, a PE ratio of 19.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is currently 26.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $273,602.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,014,116.16. This represents a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total transaction of $9,349,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. This represents a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Williams-Sonoma

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 22.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,742 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,236 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $1,248,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on WSM. Gordon Haskett raised Williams-Sonoma to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $176.13.

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.