La-Z-Boy (NYSE:LZB) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Here’s What Happened

La-Z-Boy Incorporated (NYSE:LZB)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as low as $28.72 and last traded at $28.8240, with a volume of 31,648 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $29.17.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LZB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of La-Z-Boy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings downgraded La-Z-Boy from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on La-Z-Boy from $46.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of La-Z-Boy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.50.

La-Z-Boy Trading Down 1.7%

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $31.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.51. The stock has a market cap of $1.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.24.

La-Z-Boy (NYSE:LZB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 18th. The company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.06). La-Z-Boy had a net margin of 3.86% and a return on equity of 11.79%. The firm had revenue of $475.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $501.44 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.47 earnings per share. La-Z-Boy’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that La-Z-Boy Incorporated will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current year.

La-Z-Boy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.2420 per share. This represents a $0.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 3rd. La-Z-Boy’s dividend payout ratio is 49.24%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Janet Kerr sold 3,653 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.75, for a total transaction of $115,982.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $130,968.75. This represents a 46.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Robert Sundy, II sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.85, for a total transaction of $154,250.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 59,297 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,829,312.45. The trade was a 7.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 3.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On La-Z-Boy

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in La-Z-Boy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $265,535,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of La-Z-Boy by 1.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,694,255 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,594,000 after purchasing an additional 38,870 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in La-Z-Boy by 2.6% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 755,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,085,000 after purchasing an additional 18,997 shares in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its stake in shares of La-Z-Boy by 4.6% during the first quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 591,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,022,000 after purchasing an additional 26,009 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of La-Z-Boy during the second quarter valued at about $19,511,000. 99.62% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

La-Z-Boy Company Profile

La-Z-Boy Incorporated (NYSE:LZB) is an American furniture manufacturer and retailer best known for its upholstered reclining chairs and sofas. The company offers a broad range of residential furniture, including stationary and motion upholstery, sectionals, sofas, chairs, recliners, bedroom furniture, dining furniture, occasional tables and home accessories.

Founded in 1927, La-Z-Boy traces its origins to the development of an upholstered reclining chair by cousins Edward M. Knabusch and Edwin J.