Royal Bank of Canada Raises Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Price Target to $165.00

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) had its target price upped by Royal Bank of Canada from $150.00 to $165.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on WSM. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $110.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a sell rating in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, August 24th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $146.00 to $167.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $125.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Williams-Sonoma from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $154.31.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

NYSE WSM opened at $181.97 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma has a 1 year low of $109.44 and a 1 year high of $182.00. The firm has a market cap of $12.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.63, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $153.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $137.10.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 16th. The specialty retailer reported $3.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.34 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.95 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 11.99% and a return on equity of 61.68%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma will post 13.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 20th will be issued a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 19th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 24.98%.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $15,000,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 565,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,875,250. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $15,000,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 565,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,875,250. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Marta Benson sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.68, for a total transaction of $1,406,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,238 shares in the company, valued at $7,630,201.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 130,000 shares of company stock valued at $19,496,290. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 235.2% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,384,403 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $168,426,000 after acquiring an additional 971,370 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter worth approximately $55,499,000. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the second quarter worth approximately $56,497,000. Steadfast Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter worth approximately $50,715,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 320.6% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 426,300 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $12,022,000 after acquiring an additional 324,941 shares in the last quarter. 99.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.