Element Capital Management LLC Invests $2.61 Million in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Key Points

• Element Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc., purchasing 16,500 shares valued at approximately $2.61 million during the first quarter.
• Williams-Sonoma reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.85, exceeding analysts' expectations and reflecting a year-over-year revenue increase of 4.2% to $1.73 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.66 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 1.3% and a payout ratio of 29.90%.

Element Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 16,500 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $2,609,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on WSM shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $201.00 to $174.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Zelman & Associates started coverage on Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They set an "underperform" rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, Barclays set a $166.00 price target on Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $180.18.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WSM traded up $0.78 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $202.43. The stock had a trading volume of 1,409,906 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,920,919. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $177.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $172.83. The firm has a market cap of $24.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.47. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $125.33 and a fifty-two week high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 52.79% and a net margin of 14.35%.The company had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.67 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.48 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is 29.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.18, for a total transaction of $5,045,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 966,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at $162,617,782.86. This trade represents a 3.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.96, for a total transaction of $675,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 34,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,810,196.48. This represents a 10.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 68,000 shares of company stock valued at $11,279,580. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.