Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.66

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) declared 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 1.54%. This is a 15.8% increase from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57.

Williams-Sonoma has increased its dividend payment by an average of 20.5% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 19 consecutive years. Williams-Sonoma has a payout ratio of 24.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research 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 1.8 %

NYSE:WSM opened at $171.90 on Wednesday. Williams-Sonoma has a 12-month low of $125.33 and a 12-month high of $219.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.16 billion, a PE ratio of 20.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $198.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $171.92.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.44 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WSM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Williams-Sonoma to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $194.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Two 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $176.28.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $196,263,808.16. This trade represents a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $273,602.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,014,116.16. This represents a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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 increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 22.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,742 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,236 shares during the period. 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 hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.