Evercore ISI Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Stock Price

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) had its target price reduced by Evercore ISI from $175.00 to $170.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “in-line” rating on the specialty retailer’s stock. Evercore ISI’s target price points to a potential upside of 6.05% from the stock’s previous close.

WSM has been the topic of several other reports. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $181.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Zelman & Associates assumed coverage on Williams-Sonoma in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Baird R W raised Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $176.75.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of NYSE WSM opened at $160.30 on Tuesday. Williams-Sonoma has a twelve month low of $125.33 and a twelve month high of $219.98. The stock has a market cap of $19.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.47. The company’s fifty day moving average is $157.21 and its 200-day moving average is $177.36.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 52.79% and a net margin of 14.35%. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.48 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.11, for a total transaction of $628,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,031,138.68. This trade represents a 9.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.78, for a total value of $4,973,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,018,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $168,826,041.72. This trade represents a 2.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 113,227 shares of company stock worth $18,520,913. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 99.0% during the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 199 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. 99.29% of the stock is owned by 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.