Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (WSM) To Go Ex-Dividend on April 17th

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, March 19th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be given a dividend of 0.66 per share by the specialty retailer on Saturday, May 24th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This is a 15.8% increase from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57.

Williams-Sonoma has increased its dividend by an average of 20.5% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 20 consecutive years. Williams-Sonoma has a dividend payout ratio of 29.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Williams-Sonoma to earn $8.51 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.64 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 31.0%.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of WSM opened at $145.13 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.17, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76. Williams-Sonoma has a 12 month low of $125.33 and a 12 month high of $219.98. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $177.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $173.75.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.44 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Williams-Sonoma to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Baird R W raised Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Wedbush dropped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Friday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $178.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $273,602.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,014,116.16. This represents a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 944,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. The trade was a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 120,720 shares of company stock valued at $21,828,609 over the last 90 days. 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 grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 22.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,742 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,236 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $1,248,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

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.