Evercore ISI Increases Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Price Target to $320.00

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) had its price objective increased by Evercore ISI from $300.00 to $320.00 in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an in-line rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. StockNews.com raised Williams-Sonoma from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays upped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $146.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $260.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Wedbush reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $330.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $261.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $249.31.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WSM opened at $317.53 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $20.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.79, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.66. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $241.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $197.67. Williams-Sonoma has a 52 week low of $109.44 and a 52 week high of $319.70.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.06 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.22 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 55.15% and a net margin of 12.25%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.50 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma will post 15.37 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.13 per share. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total transaction of $330,973.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,966 shares in the company, valued at $2,013,591.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.92, for a total transaction of $4,038,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 525,509 shares in the company, valued at $106,110,777.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total value of $330,973.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,013,591.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 43,329 shares of company stock worth $10,729,906 over the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 0.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,269,096 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $283,955,000 after acquiring an additional 15,078 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 1.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,456,161 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $226,287,000 after acquiring an additional 18,004 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 24.1% in the first 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 3.2% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,142,272 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $142,944,000 after acquiring an additional 35,315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 970,737 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $195,882,000 after acquiring an additional 23,918 shares during the last quarter. 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.