Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Baird R W

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) was upgraded by equities researchers at Baird R W from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on WSM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Friday. UBS Group raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $165.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $178.93.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

WSM opened at $145.01 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.91 billion, a PE ratio of 17.15, a P/E/G 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’s fifty day moving average price is $186.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $174.08.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.44 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.79, for a total transaction of $6,020,166.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,690,666.52. This trade represents a 43.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total value of $9,349,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares in the company, valued at $196,263,808.16. This represents a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 112,720 shares of company stock worth $20,616,369. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mariner LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 11,225 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,079,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 15.5% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 396 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,474 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $643,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Westmount Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Westmount Partners LLC now owns 6,242 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,156,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, Bailard Inc. lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 4,091 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $758,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently 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.