Williams-Sonoma Inc. [NYSE: WSM] jumped around 1.34 points on Thursday, while shares priced at $119.95 at the close of the session, up 1.13%. The company report on March 16, 2023 that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. announces a 15% quarterly dividend increase and a new $1 billion stock repurchase authorization.
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Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE: WSM) announced today that its Board of Directors has authorized a 15% increase in the company’s quarterly cash dividend to $0.90 per share. The quarterly dividend is payable on May 26, 2023, to stockholders of record as of the close of business on April 21, 2023. The Board of Directors also approved a new $1 billion stock repurchase authorization, which supersedes the company’s current stock repurchase authorization.
“After our record fiscal 2022 results, we have increased our quarterly dividend and authorized a new stock repurchase program of $1 billion,” said Laura Alber, President and Chief Executive Officer. “We continue to distinguish ourselves as the world’s largest digital first, design led, sustainable retailer. With our consistent profitability, operating cash flow, and fortress balance sheet, we are well-positioned to continue to deliver returns to our shareholders.”.
Williams-Sonoma Inc. stock is now 4.38% up from its year-to-date (YTD) trading value. WSM Stock saw the intraday high of $124.5299 and lowest of $117.55 per share. The company’s 52-week high price is 176.89, which means current price is +7.93% above from all time high which was touched on 02/02/23.
Compared to the average trading volume of 981.27K shares, WSM reached a trading volume of 2840556 in the most recent trading day, which is why market watchdogs consider the stock to be active.
What do top market gurus say about Williams-Sonoma Inc. [WSM]?
Based on careful and fact-backed analyses by Wall Street experts, the current consensus on the target price for WSM shares is $128.00 per share. Analysis on target price and performance of stocks is usually carefully studied by market experts, and the current Wall Street consensus on WSM stock is a recommendation set at 3.00. This rating represents a strong Buy recommendation, on the scale from 1 to 5, where 5 would mean strong sell, 4 represents Sell, 3 is Hold, and 2 indicates Buy.
Needham have made an estimate for Williams-Sonoma Inc. shares, keeping their opinion on the stock as Hold, with their previous recommendation back on December 13, 2022. While these analysts kept the previous recommendation, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price from $150 to $100. The new note on the price target was released on November 28, 2022, representing the official price target for Williams-Sonoma Inc. stock. Previously, the target price had yet another drop from $192 to $114, while Barclays kept a Equal Weight rating on WSM stock.
The Average True Range (ATR) for Williams-Sonoma Inc. is set at 4.13, with the Price to Sales ratio for WSM stock in the period of the last 12 months amounting to 0.94. The Price to Book ratio for the last quarter was 5.66, with the Price to Cash per share for the same quarter was set at 1.66. Price to Free Cash Flow for WSM in the course of the last twelve months was 12.93 with Quick ratio for the last quarter at 0.20.
How has WSM stock performed recently?
Williams-Sonoma Inc. [WSM] fell into the red zone at the end of the last week, falling into a negative trend and dropping by -3.11. With this latest performance, WSM shares dropped by -7.30% in over the last four-week period, additionally sinking by -16.17% over the last 6 months – not to mention a drop of -19.23% in the past year of trading.
Overbought and oversold stocks can be easily traced with the Relative Strength Index (RSI), where an RSI result of over 70 would be overbought, and any rate below 30 would indicate oversold conditions. An RSI rate of 50 would represent a neutral market momentum. The current RSI for WSM stock in for the last two-week period is set at 41.56, with the RSI for the last a single of trading hit 39.14, and the three-weeks RSI is set at 44.11 for Williams-Sonoma Inc. [WSM]. The present Moving Average for the last 50 days of trading for this stock 126.37, while it was recorded at 119.27 for the last single week of trading, and 128.82 for the last 200 days.
Williams-Sonoma Inc. [WSM]: Deeper insight into the fundamentals
Operating Margin for any stock indicates how profitable investing would be, and Williams-Sonoma Inc. [WSM] shares currently have an operating margin of +17.62 and a Gross Margin at +44.05. Williams-Sonoma Inc.’s Net Margin is presently recorded at +13.66.
Return on Equity for this stock inclined to 67.95, with Return on Assets sitting at 24.26.
Williams-Sonoma Inc.’s liquidity data is similarly interesting compelling, with a Quick Ratio of 0.20 and a Current Ratio set at 1.10.
Earnings analysis for Williams-Sonoma Inc. [WSM]
The progress of the company may be observed through the prism of EPS growth rate, while Wall Street analysts are focusing on predicting the 5-year EPS growth rate for WSM. When it comes to the mentioned value, analysts are expecting to see the 5-year EPS growth rate for Williams-Sonoma Inc. go to 8.90%.
Insider trade positions for Williams-Sonoma Inc. [WSM]
There are presently around $8,102 million, in the hands of institutional investors. The top three institutional holders of WSM stocks are: VANGUARD GROUP INC with ownership of 7,937,719, which is approximately 9.144% of the company’s market cap and around 1.10% of the total institutional ownership; FMR LLC, holding 6,671,615 shares of the stock with an approximate value of $800.26 million in WSM stocks shares; and BLACKROCK INC., currently with $752.34 million in WSM stock with ownership of nearly 1.265% of the company’s market capitalization.
Positions in Williams-Sonoma Inc. stocks held by institutional investors increased at the end of Thursday and at the time of the Thursday reporting period, where 280 institutional holders increased their position in Williams-Sonoma Inc. [NYSE:WSM] by around 5,165,844 shares. Additionally, 323 investors decreased positions by around 5,202,873 shares, while 101 investors held positions by with 57,178,366 shares. The mentioned changes placed institutional holdings at 67,547,083 shares, according to the latest SEC report filing. WSM stock had 89 new institutional investments in for a total of 1,045,017 shares, while 83 institutional investors sold positions of 1,488,562 shares during the same period.