Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Receives “Outperform” Rating from Telsey Advisory Group

Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) in a report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $165.00 price objective on the specialty retailer’s stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $232.00 to $116.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $147.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $148.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $139.47.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $133.89 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma has a fifty-two week low of $88.24 and a fifty-two week high of $174.26. The stock has a market cap of $16.92 billion, a PE ratio of 15.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.76. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $141.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $144.52.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.81 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 51.57%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.56 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma will post 7.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.70%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.39%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total value of $1,494,726.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,040,099. This represents a 42.29 % 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 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.49, for a total transaction of $5,219,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 990,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $129,309,848.44. This trade represents a 3.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 91,100 shares of company stock valued at $12,525,126. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 32.0% during the 3rd quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,302 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,371,000 after buying an additional 3,707 shares during the period. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 236 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Virtue Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC now owns 6,628 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,027,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 94.9% in the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 42,484 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,581,000 after purchasing an additional 20,682 shares during the period. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 171.7% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 15,897 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,463,000 after purchasing an additional 10,046 shares during the period. 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.