BlackRock Inc. Takes $265.54 Million Position in La-Z-Boy Incorporated $LZB

BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of La-Z-Boy Incorporated (NYSE:LZB) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 6,618,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $265,535,000. BlackRock Inc. owned approximately 0.17% of La-Z-Boy as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LZB. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in La-Z-Boy by 208.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,492,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,237,000 after purchasing an additional 1,009,428 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of La-Z-Boy in the 2nd quarter worth about $17,158,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of La-Z-Boy by 100.1% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 627,638 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,392,000 after purchasing an additional 313,932 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of La-Z-Boy by 46.3% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 895,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,357,000 after purchasing an additional 283,364 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its stake in shares of La-Z-Boy by 64.5% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 391,470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,551,000 after purchasing an additional 153,498 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.62% of the company’s stock.

La-Z-Boy Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE LZB opened at $32.37 on Thursday. La-Z-Boy Incorporated has a 12 month low of $29.03 and a 12 month high of $44.90. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $39.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.72. The stock has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.27.

La-Z-Boy (NYSE:LZB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 18th. The company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $475.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $501.44 million. La-Z-Boy had a return on equity of 11.79% and a net margin of 3.86%.La-Z-Boy’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.47 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that La-Z-Boy Incorporated will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

La-Z-Boy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.242 per share. This represents a $0.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 3rd. La-Z-Boy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Terrence James Linz sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.23, for a total transaction of $100,575.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 64,383 shares in the company, valued at $2,590,128.09. This represents a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Raphaell Z. Richmond sold 13,671 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.83, for a total transaction of $544,515.93. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 51,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,059,011.85. This trade represents a 20.91% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 66,299 shares of company stock valued at $2,677,491. 3.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of La-Z-Boy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of La-Z-Boy from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. 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 downgraded La-Z-Boy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.50.

La-Z-Boy Company Profile

La-Z-Boy Incorporated (NYSE: LZB) is a leading U.S. manufacturer and marketer of residential furniture, best known for its upholstered recliners, sofas, stationary chairs and sleeper sofas. The company offers a broad range of products in both fabric and leather, complemented by occasional tables, desks, lamps and other home furnishings through its branded retail network.

Founded in 1927 by cousins Edward Knabusch and Edwin Shoemaker in Monroe, Michigan, La-Z-Boy pioneered the modern reclining chair.