Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.40 EPS

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.40, Briefing.com reports. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.44 earnings per share. Williams-Sonoma’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of WSM opened at $171.90 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $198.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $171.92. The stock has a market cap of $21.16 billion, a PE ratio of 20.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82. Williams-Sonoma has a 12 month low of $125.33 and a 12 month high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is currently 26.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $273,602.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,014,116.16. The trade was a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total value of $9,349,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. The trade was a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Williams-Sonoma

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Williams-Sonoma stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 22.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,742 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1,236 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $1,248,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on WSM shares. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 price target (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $194.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $136.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $176.28.

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.