La-Z-Boy (NYSE:LZB) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Shares of La-Z-Boy Incorporated (NYSE:LZB) gapped up before the market opened on Friday. The stock had previously closed at $28.68, but opened at $30.03. La-Z-Boy shares last traded at $29.6950, with a volume of 9,258 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

La-Z-Boy Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a PE ratio of 15.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $31.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.48.

La-Z-Boy (NYSE:LZB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 18th. The company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $475.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $501.44 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.47 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that La-Z-Boy Incorporated will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current year.

La-Z-Boy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 3rd were issued a $0.2420 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. La-Z-Boy’s payout ratio is presently 49.24%.

Insider Transactions at La-Z-Boy

In other news, Director Janet Kerr sold 3,653 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.75, for a total value of $115,982.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 4,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $130,968.75. This represents a 46.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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 that occurred on Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.85, for a total transaction of $154,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 59,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,829,312.45. This trade represents a 7.78% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 3.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LZB. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in La-Z-Boy in the 2nd quarter worth about $265,535,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in La-Z-Boy by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,694,255 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,594,000 after buying an additional 38,870 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of La-Z-Boy by 2.6% during 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 raised its position in La-Z-Boy by 4.6% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in La-Z-Boy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $19,511,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.62% of the company’s stock.

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.