Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Raised to “Outperform” at Robert W. Baird

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Robert W. Baird from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm presently has a $170.00 price target on the specialty retailer’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 19.77% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on WSM. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Gordon Haskett upgraded Williams-Sonoma to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $178.93.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of WSM stock opened at $141.94 on Monday. Williams-Sonoma has a 12-month low of $125.33 and a 12-month high of $219.98. The company has a 50 day moving average of $188.18 and a 200-day moving average of $174.12. The firm has a market cap of $17.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.79, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.34 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.44 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $273,602.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,014,116.16. The trade was a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total transaction of $9,349,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 944,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. The trade was a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 112,720 shares of company stock worth $20,616,369. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Williams-Sonoma

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WSM. Mariner LLC boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 11,225 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,079,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 15.5% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 396 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,474 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $643,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Westmount Partners LLC grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Westmount Partners LLC now owns 6,242 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,156,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bailard Inc. grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 4,091 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $758,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

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.