Williams-Sonoma’s (WSM) “Outperform” Rating Reaffirmed at Telsey Advisory Group

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by analysts at Telsey Advisory Group in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $165.00 target price on the specialty retailer’s stock. Telsey Advisory Group’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 14.27% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on WSM. Wedbush reduced their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $158.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $148.00 to $156.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $140.83.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Williams-Sonoma stock traded up $2.65 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $144.39. The company had a trading volume of 669,544 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,936,970. The company has a market capitalization of $18.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.74. Williams-Sonoma has a 12-month low of $71.56 and a 12-month high of $174.26. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $141.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $146.72.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.13. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 51.57%. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.56 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma will post 7.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total transaction of $1,494,726.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,040,099. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total value of $1,494,726.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,150 shares in the company, valued at $2,040,099. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total transaction of $5,810,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,030,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,766,978.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 91,100 shares of company stock valued at $13,563,526. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WSM. Tilia Fiduciary Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 86.5% in the third quarter. Tilia Fiduciary Partners Inc. now owns 11,575 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,793,000 after acquiring an additional 5,369 shares in the last quarter. FCF Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% during the third quarter. FCF Advisors LLC now owns 16,386 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,539,000 after purchasing an additional 8,193 shares during the last quarter. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 96.8% during the third quarter. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management now owns 42,552 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,592,000 after purchasing an additional 20,930 shares during the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 98.6% during the third quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 11,484 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,779,000 after purchasing an additional 5,701 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 6.2% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 12,786 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,610,000 after purchasing an additional 741 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

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.