Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.40 EPS

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.40, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. Williams-Sonoma’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.44 earnings per share.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 11.6 %

Shares of NYSE WSM opened at $152.28 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $198.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $171.92. Williams-Sonoma has a twelve month low of $125.33 and a twelve month high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.73%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total transaction of $9,349,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. This represents a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $273,602.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at $9,014,116.16. This trade represents a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Williams-Sonoma stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 22.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,742 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,236 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $1,248,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Monday. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $176.28.

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.