Contrasting Williams-Sonoma (WSM) & Its Competitors

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) is one of 285 publicly-traded companies in the “Specialty Retail” industry, but how does it contrast to its peers? We will compare Williams-Sonoma to similar businesses based on the strength of its dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, risk, profitability and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Williams-Sonoma and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Williams-Sonoma	14.73%	53.48%	20.50%
Williams-Sonoma Competitors	-3.67%	-14.10%	3.17%

Dividends

Williams-Sonoma pays an annual dividend of $3.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Williams-Sonoma pays out 31.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Specialty Retail” companies pay a dividend yield of 2.1% and pay out 35.7% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Williams-Sonoma has raised its dividend for 20 consecutive years.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Williams-Sonoma and its peers revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Williams-Sonoma	$7.81 billion	$1.09 billion	25.96
Williams-Sonoma Competitors	$7.30 billion	$386.47 million	32.29

Williams-Sonoma has higher revenue and earnings than its peers. Williams-Sonoma is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Volatility and Risk

Williams-Sonoma has a beta of 1.48, indicating that its stock price is 48% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Williams-Sonoma’s peers have a beta of 1.67, indicating that their average stock price is 67% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

99.3% of Williams-Sonoma shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 51.6% of shares of all “Specialty Retail” companies are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of Williams-Sonoma shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 20.5% of shares of all “Specialty Retail” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Williams-Sonoma and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Williams-Sonoma	0	8	10	0	2.56
Williams-Sonoma Competitors	3663	15558	21597	586	2.46

Williams-Sonoma presently has a consensus price target of $247.89, indicating a potential downside of 2.27%. As a group, “Specialty Retail” companies have a potential upside of 9.72%. Given Williams-Sonoma’s peers higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Williams-Sonoma has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Summary

Williams-Sonoma beats its peers on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

About Williams-Sonoma

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. The company also provides home decor products under the West Elm brand; kids accessories under the Pottery Barn Kids brand; and an organic bedding to multi-purpose furniture under the Pottery Barn Teen brand. In addition, it offers made-to-order lighting, hardware, furniture, and home decors inspired by history under the Rejuvenation brand; personalized products and custom gifts under the Mark and Graham brand; and colorful and vintage-inspired heirloom products under the GreenRow, as well as operates a 3-D imaging and augmented reality platform for the home furnishings and décor industry under the Outward brand. The company markets its products through e-commerce websites, direct-mail catalogs, and retail stores. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. was founded in 1956 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.