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

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

Williams-Sonoma has raised 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% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WSM opened at $150.90 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $142.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $146.38. Williams-Sonoma has a fifty-two week low of $71.56 and a fifty-two week high of $174.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.74.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.56 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma will post 7.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,030,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $149,766,978.12. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of Williams-Sonoma 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,040,099. This trade represents a 0.00 % 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, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the business’s 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on WSM shares. Wedbush cut their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays cut their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $232.00 to $116.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Friday, October 11th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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 report on Monday, August 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.