TD Cowen Issues Positive Forecast for Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Stock Price

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) had its price objective boosted by TD Cowen from $165.00 to $195.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on WSM. Telsey Advisory Group increased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $136.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $148.00 to $156.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Barclays increased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $116.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $154.41.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 0.3 %

WSM opened at $171.98 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $143.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $144.82. Williams-Sonoma has a 12-month low of $90.31 and a 12-month high of $181.42. The firm has a market cap of $21.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.34, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.76.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.13. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.81 billion. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.56 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma will post 8.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.49, for a total value of $5,219,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 990,956 shares in the company, valued at $129,309,848.44. This trade represents a 3.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 15,150 shares in the company, valued at $2,040,099. This represents a 42.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 91,100 shares of company stock worth $12,525,126. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. EntryPoint Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 520.0% in the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 93 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Smithfield Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% during the third quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 160 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. 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.