Haverty Furniture Companies (NYSE:HVT) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Haverty Furniture Companies (NYSE:HVT) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on HVT. Zacks Research cut shares of Haverty Furniture Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Haverty Furniture Companies from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Sell”.

Haverty Furniture Companies Stock Up 4.4%

Shares of HVT stock opened at $22.77 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $370.40 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.24. Haverty Furniture Companies has a fifty-two week low of $17.01 and a fifty-two week high of $24.91. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $21.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.09.

Haverty Furniture Companies (NYSE:HVT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.04. The business had revenue of ($362.04) million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $183.12 million. Haverty Furniture Companies had a net margin of 2.62% and a return on equity of 6.34%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Haverty Furniture Companies will post 0.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Haverty Furniture Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 25th were issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 25th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.6%. Haverty Furniture Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 112.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Rawson Haverty, Jr. sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.84, for a total value of $342,600.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 29,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $674,305.32. This represents a 33.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold a total of 40,000 shares of company stock valued at $918,900 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 8.63% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Haverty Furniture Companies

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HVT. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Haverty Furniture Companies by 61.5% in the second quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 1,560,557 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,757,000 after buying an additional 594,476 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in Haverty Furniture Companies by 68.7% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 172,099 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,394,000 after buying an additional 70,060 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Haverty Furniture Companies in the second quarter worth approximately $1,288,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Haverty Furniture Companies in the second quarter worth approximately $1,259,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in Haverty Furniture Companies in the third quarter worth approximately $1,123,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.57% of the company’s stock.

Haverty Furniture Companies Company Profile

Haverty Furniture Companies, Inc operates as a specialty retailer of residential furniture and accessories in the United States. The company offers furniture merchandise under the Havertys brand name. It also provides custom upholstery products and eclectic looks; and mattress product lines under the Tempur-Pedic, Serta, Sealy, and Stearns and Foster names.