OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Acquires 2,144 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Key Points

• OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp increased its investment in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. by 16.8% in Q1, acquiring an additional 2,144 shares to bring its total holdings to 14,916 shares, valued at $2,358,000.
• Analysts have recently upgraded their ratings on Williams-Sonoma, with JPMorgan Chase raising the price target from $168.00 to $215.00 and Gordon Haskett upgrading to a "buy" rating with a $205.00 price target.
• Williams-Sonoma announced a quarterly dividend of $0.66 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $2.64 and a yield of 1.4%.

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 16.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,916 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after buying an additional 2,144 shares during the quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp's holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $2,358,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 350.3% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 259,224 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $40,983,000 after buying an additional 201,660 shares in the last quarter. Eisler Capital Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter worth about $4,119,000. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter valued at approximately $742,000. CreativeOne Wealth LLC boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 28.1% during the first quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 9,519 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,505,000 after purchasing an additional 2,088 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Redwood Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 7.8% during the first quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC now owns 8,287 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,310,000 after purchasing an additional 598 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.96, for a total transaction of $675,840.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 34,388 shares in the company, valued at $5,810,196.48. This trade represents a 10.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.18, for a total value of $5,045,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 966,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $162,617,782.86. This trade represents a 3.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WSM traded down $0.29 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $187.77. 1,611,765 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,542,294. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.52. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52 week low of $125.33 and a 52 week high of $219.98. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $184.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $171.73.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The specialty retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.21. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 54.47% and a net margin of 14.54%.The company had revenue of $1.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.74 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Research analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 18th. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. KeyCorp increased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $181.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup raised their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Zelman & Associates initiated coverage on Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued an "underperform" rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $198.35.

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.