Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Upgraded by Baird R W to “Strong-Buy” Rating

Baird R W upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports.

WSM has been the subject of a number of other reports. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $140.00 to $165.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $178.93.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 2.4 %

WSM stock opened at $145.01 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $186.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.08. The stock has a market cap of $17.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.15, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76. Williams-Sonoma has a fifty-two week low of $125.33 and a fifty-two week high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion during 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 company’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.44 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This is a boost 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 1.82%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is 29.30%.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $273,602.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,014,116.16. This trade represents a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total value of $9,349,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares in the company, valued at $196,263,808.16. This trade represents a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 112,720 shares of company stock worth $20,616,369 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. 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 worth $2,079,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 396 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $643,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Westmount Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Westmount Partners LLC now owns 6,242 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,156,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bailard Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 4,091 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $758,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

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.