Citigroup Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Stock

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) had its target price boosted by investment analysts at Citigroup from $162.00 to $202.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the specialty retailer’s stock. Citigroup’s target price would suggest a potential downside of 0.67% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on WSM. KeyCorp raised Williams-Sonoma from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $181.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $182.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $201.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $185.59.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

WSM stock opened at $203.3670 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.47. The business’s 50-day moving average is $180.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $172.67. Williams-Sonoma has a 1 year low of $125.33 and a 1 year high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 52.79% and a net margin of 14.35%.Williams-Sonoma’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.48 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.33, for a total transaction of $4,929,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 996,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $163,825,013.91. The trade was a 2.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.96, for a total value of $675,840.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,810,196.48. This trade represents a 10.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 68,000 shares of company stock worth $11,279,580. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Groupe la Francaise grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 631 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,016 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $493,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 15.3% in the 1st quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 482 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. TFB Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 1,281 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $203,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Graypoint LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 4,791 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $757,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently 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.