Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Price Target Increased to $320.00 by Analysts at TD Cowen

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) had its price objective increased by TD Cowen from $260.00 to $320.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

WSM has been the topic of several other research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $146.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a sell rating to a neutral rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $154.00 to $263.00 in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and upped their target price for the stock from $155.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, November 17th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $110.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a sell rating in a research report on Friday, November 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $230.06.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock traded up $1.65 during trading on Thursday, reaching $285.42. The company had a trading volume of 1,253,396 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,093,709. The company has a market cap of $18.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.66. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $221.06 and its 200-day moving average is $186.91. Williams-Sonoma has a fifty-two week low of $109.44 and a fifty-two week high of $292.40.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.06 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.50 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma will post 14.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.92, for a total value of $4,038,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 525,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $106,110,777.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MCF Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 129.3% in the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 188 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 863.6% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 212 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 820.0% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 230 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.76% 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.