Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Earns Outperform Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating restated by equities researchers at Royal Bank of Canada in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $182.00 price target on the specialty retailer's stock. Royal Bank of Canada's price objective suggests a potential upside of 13.89% from the company's previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on WSM. Telsey Advisory Group decreased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $220.00 to $215.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Barclays set a $166.00 price objective on Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $170.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Williams-Sonoma to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $201.00 to $174.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $177.38.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Williams-Sonoma stock traded down $0.58 during trading on Friday, reaching $159.81. The company had a trading volume of 573,369 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,038,124. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.65 billion, a PE ratio of 18.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.57. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $156.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.07. Williams-Sonoma has a 1-year low of $125.33 and a 1-year high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. The company's revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.48 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.78, for a total transaction of $4,973,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,018,374 shares in the company, valued at $168,826,041.72. This represents a 2.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.78, for a total value of $627,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 42,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,645,590.64. This represents a 8.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 80,635 shares of company stock worth $13,236,175. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Redwood Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,424,000. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 46.2% in the fourth quarter. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC now owns 23,950 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $4,435,000 after purchasing an additional 7,564 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 109,359 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $20,251,000 after purchasing an additional 5,337 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 316,535 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $58,616,000 after purchasing an additional 3,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 132.0% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,905 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $723,000 after buying an additional 2,222 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.

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