SFE Investment Counsel Has $7.44 Million Stock Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

SFE Investment Counsel grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 16.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,816 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 5,683 shares during the quarter. SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $7,442,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,742 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,248,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter worth about $227,000. Woodline Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter worth about $1,644,000. Guggenheim Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 9.0% during the second quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 4,153 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $678,000 after buying an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,631 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $757,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 15,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $3,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 923,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $184,704,800. The trade was a 1.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 1,112 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.49, for a total value of $254,080.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 21,717 shares in the company, valued at $4,962,117.33. The trade was a 4.87% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 51,634 shares of company stock valued at $9,812,283 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

WSM stock traded up $2.03 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $221.80. The stock had a trading volume of 1,001,268 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,206,597. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $206.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $200.04. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $161.76 and a fifty-two week high of $244.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.12 billion, a PE ratio of 24.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.49.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The specialty retailer reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.13. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 13.81% and a return on equity of 53.29%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.85 EPS. Williams-Sonoma’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 9.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Friday, July 17th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is 22.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on WSM. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $235.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Argus set a $230.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Friday, May 29th. Barclays set a $190.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $212.65.

About Williams-Sonoma

Williams‑Sonoma, Inc is a specialty retailer focused on the home and culinary markets, best known for premium cookware, kitchen tools and home furnishings. The company traces its roots to a single cookware store founded by Chuck Williams in 1956 in Sonoma, California, and has evolved into a multi‑brand home furnishings and housewares business. Its merchandise mix spans cookware and kitchen electrics, tabletop and food prep items, furniture, bedding, lighting and decorative accessories designed for both everyday use and higher‑end interiors.

The company operates a portfolio of consumer brands that target distinct segments of the home market.