Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Increases Dividend to $0.66 Per Share

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, March 19th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be given a dividend of 0.66 per share by the specialty retailer on Saturday, May 24th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This is a 15.8% increase from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57.

Williams-Sonoma has raised its dividend by an average of 20.5% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 19 years. Williams-Sonoma has a dividend payout ratio of 24.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Williams-Sonoma to earn $8.51 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.28 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 26.8%.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 3.5 %

Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $166.20 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $198.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $171.88. The company has a market cap of $20.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82. Williams-Sonoma has a 52-week low of $125.33 and a 52-week high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.40. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.44 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owns 944,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. This represents a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing 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 on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $273,602.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at $9,014,116.16. The trade was a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Williams-Sonoma stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 22.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 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. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on WSM shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $190.00 price target (up from $175.00) on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Friday, February 28th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $179.53.

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.