Baird R W Upgrades Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) to Strong-Buy

Baird R W upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on WSM. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. UBS Group upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $178.93.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $145.01 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $17.91 billion, a PE ratio of 17.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76. Williams-Sonoma has a fifty-two week low of $125.33 and a fifty-two week high of $219.98. The business’s fifty day moving average is $186.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.08.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.40. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.44 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is presently 29.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.79, for a total value of $6,020,166.48. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,690,666.52. This represents a 43.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total transaction of $9,349,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $196,263,808.16. The trade was a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 112,720 shares of company stock worth $20,616,369. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WSM. Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 94.8% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 19,535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,026,000 after purchasing an additional 9,509 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 109,359 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $20,251,000 after acquiring an additional 5,337 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 48.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 527,740 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $97,875,000 after acquiring an additional 172,409 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 316,535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $58,616,000 after acquiring an additional 3,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 132.0% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,905 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $723,000 after acquiring an additional 2,222 shares in the last quarter. 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.