Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.09 EPS

Posted by Scott Davis on Mar 17th, 2023

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM – Get Rating) posted its earnings results on Thursday. The specialty retailer reported $5.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.41 by $0.09, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $2.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.60 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 13.48% and a return on equity of 83.08%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.42 EPS. Williams-Sonoma updated its FY 2023 guidance to EPS.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WSM opened at $119.95 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.62. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $126.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $125.55. Williams-Sonoma has a fifty-two week low of $101.58 and a fifty-two week high of $176.89.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 26th. Investors of record on Friday, April 21st will be given a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 20th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSM has been the topic of several research reports. Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Tuesday, December 13th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $205.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $192.00 to $151.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 18th. Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $145.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $109.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $127.94.

Institutional Trading of Williams-Sonoma

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 24.1% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,408,911 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $204,292,000 after acquiring an additional 273,424 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 35.4% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 815,713 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $93,742,000 after purchasing an additional 213,398 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 726,398 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $83,478,000 after purchasing an additional 83,343 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 36.3% during the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 640,563 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $71,071,000 after purchasing an additional 170,511 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth approximately $55,499,000. 99.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams-Sonoma Company Profile

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Williams-Sonoma, Inc engages in the retailing of home products. It operates through the following segments: Pottery Barn, West Elm, Williams Sonoma, Pottery Barn Kids and Teen and Other. The Other segment includes net revenues from international franchise operations, Rejuvenation and Mark and Graham.