Williams-Sonoma, Inc. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.57 (NYSE:WSM)

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, September 12th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be paid a dividend of 0.57 per share by the specialty retailer on Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th.

Williams-Sonoma has increased its dividend by an average of 20.9% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 19 years. Williams-Sonoma has a dividend payout ratio of 27.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Williams-Sonoma to earn $8.23 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 27.7%.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:WSM opened at $150.90 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $19.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.54, a PEG ratio of 2.87 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $142.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $146.38.

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

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,030,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $149,766,978.12. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 1,030,956 shares in the company, valued at $149,766,978.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total value of $1,494,726.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $158.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $232.00 to $116.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Wedbush decreased their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $140.83.

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.