Williams-Sonoma (WSM) Expected to Announce Earnings on Wednesday

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) is expected to be posting its quarterly earnings results before the market opens on Wednesday, March 12th. Analysts expect Williams-Sonoma to post earnings of $2.88 per share and revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 1.4 %

WSM opened at $185.73 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82. Williams-Sonoma has a twelve month low of $117.13 and a twelve month high of $219.98. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $201.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $170.38.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th were issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $273,602.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,014,116.16. The trade was a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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 transaction of $9,349,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. This represents a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 22.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,742 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,236 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $1,248,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on WSM. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Loop Capital upped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $194.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $173.28.

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.