Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Upgraded to “Buy” at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has $156.00 target price on the specialty retailer’s stock, up from their previous target price of $148.00.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on WSM. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an outperform rating and issued a $170.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a hold rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $147.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Wedbush dropped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $150.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $140.50.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WSM opened at $144.51 on Wednesday. Williams-Sonoma has a 1 year low of $69.95 and a 1 year high of $174.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.74. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $142.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $144.39.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.81 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.57% and a net margin of 14.29%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.56 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma will post 7.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,040,099. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,040,099. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.45, for a total value of $6,258,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,070,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $167,551,066.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 970,737 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $195,882,000 after buying an additional 23,918 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 28.6% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 964,910 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $272,462,000 after purchasing an additional 214,669 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 2.4% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 785,457 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $249,406,000 after purchasing an additional 18,358 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 785,143 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $158,426,000 after purchasing an additional 72,843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $152,843,000. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

About Williams-Sonoma

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.