Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Lowered to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM – Get Rating) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Thursday.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $160.00 to $152.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 6th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $100.00 and set a sell rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 24th. Gordon Haskett downgraded Williams-Sonoma from an accumulate rating to a reduce rating in a research note on Friday, May 6th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Williams-Sonoma to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $220.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 26th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $157.17.

Shares of WSM stock opened at $121.25 on Thursday. Williams-Sonoma has a 1-year low of $101.58 and a 1-year high of $223.32. The company has a market capitalization of $8.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.53. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $127.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $145.47.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 25th. The specialty retailer reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.60. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 76.64% and a net margin of 13.74%. The business had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. Williams-Sonoma’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma will post 16.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 26th. Investors of record on Friday, July 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 21st. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.57%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.25%.

In related news, Director Sabrina Simmons sold 2,030 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.85, for a total transaction of $312,315.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ryan Ross sold 10,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.42, for a total value of $1,325,168.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 21,269 shares in the company, valued at $2,710,095.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,430 shares of company stock valued at $2,287,484 in the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,555,841 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $432,269,000 after purchasing an additional 198,409 shares during the period. HS Management Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 61.6% in the 1st quarter. HS Management Partners LLC now owns 1,655,704 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $240,077,000 after purchasing an additional 630,830 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 24.1% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,408,911 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $204,292,000 after purchasing an additional 273,424 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 907,923 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $131,649,000 after purchasing an additional 6,391 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 872,290 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $154,683,000 after purchasing an additional 70,514 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.66% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Company Profile (Get Rating)

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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