Analysts Set Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Target Price at $248.06

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eighteen analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have assigned a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $248.06.

Several research firms recently commented on WSM. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $155.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $261.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $146.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

NYSE WSM opened at $281.70 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.70. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $274.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $216.87. Williams-Sonoma has a one year low of $109.44 and a one year high of $319.78.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.06 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 12.25% and a return on equity of 55.15%. Williams-Sonoma’s revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.50 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $1.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total transaction of $330,973.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,966 shares in the company, valued at $2,013,591.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Marta Benson sold 2,184 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.98, for a total transaction of $685,732.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 48,364 shares in the company, valued at $15,185,328.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total transaction of $330,973.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,013,591.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,145 shares of company stock worth $12,182,219. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 18,004 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 23,918 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 2.4% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 785,457 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $249,406,000 after buying an additional 18,358 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 785,143 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $158,426,000 after buying an additional 72,843 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at about $152,843,000. 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.