Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Raised to "Buy" at Gordon Haskett

Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $205.00 target price on the specialty retailer's stock.

WSM has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $170.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $201.00 to $174.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Barclays set a $166.00 target price on Williams-Sonoma and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $178.41.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock traded up $1.26 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $181.80. 811,594 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,988,725. The stock has a market cap of $22.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.59, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.45. Williams-Sonoma has a twelve month low of $125.33 and a twelve month high of $219.98. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $165.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $173.94.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last released 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 52.79%. Williams-Sonoma's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.48 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is presently 29.90%.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company's stock, valued at $5,810,196.48. The trade was a 10.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.18, for a total transaction of $5,045,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 966,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $162,617,782.86. This represents a 3.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 72,000 shares of company stock valued at $11,906,700. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 21.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,630,310 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $2,471,152,000 after buying an additional 2,797,562 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,902,382 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $352,283,000 after purchasing an additional 249,389 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter valued at about $290,121,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 34.1% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,436,839 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $227,164,000 after buying an additional 365,718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 31.0% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,076,959 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $170,267,000 after buying an additional 254,550 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.