UPDATE: Bank Of America Upgrades Williams-Sonoma On Improved Visibility/Solid Execution

In a report published Monday, Bank of America analyst Denise Chai upgraded the rating on Williams-Sonoma (NYSE: WSM) from Neutral to Buy, and raised the price target from $70.00 to $82.00.

In the report, Bank of America noted, “Given improved visibility and solid execution, we are upgrading WSM to Buy from Neutral and raising our PO to $82 from $70. We believe WSM represents one of the most attractive and sustainable beat-and-raise stories in Hardlines retail.

"The ongoing shift to DTC (still) represents a huge opportunity, and innovative tie-ups and brand extensions are underpinning outsized growth and share gains. WSM's higher-end, big-ticket positioning is also an asset. Our new $82 PO is based on 22x 2015E EPS, slightly above the10-year average P/E of 19.6x and versus our prior PO of $70 on 20x blended 2014/2015E. We would pair our new Buy rating on WSM with our concurrent BBBY downgrade to Underperform.”

Williams-Sonoma closed on Thursday at $72.35.