La-Z-Boy (NYSE:LZB) Hits New 1-Year Low – Should You Sell?

Shares of La-Z-Boy Incorporated (NYSE:LZB) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The company 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. 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 report on Thursday, August 20th. Weiss Ratings lowered La-Z-Boy from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen cut La-Z-Boy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised La-Z-Boy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, La-Z-Boy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.50.

La-Z-Boy Trading Down 1.7%

The company has a fifty day moving average of $31.84 and a 200-day moving average of $35.51. The stock has a market cap of $1.15 billion, a PE ratio of 14.56, a P/E/G 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 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $475.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $501.44 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.47 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that La-Z-Boy Incorporated will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

La-Z-Boy Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at La-Z-Boy

In other news, Director Janet Kerr sold 3,653 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.75, for a total value of $115,982.75. Following the completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 59,297 shares in the company, valued at $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. 3.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of La-Z-Boy

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LZB. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of La-Z-Boy in the second quarter valued at about $265,535,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in La-Z-Boy by 1.5% during 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 holdings 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 valued at $24,085,000 after purchasing an additional 18,997 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of La-Z-Boy during the 2nd quarter worth $19,511,000. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its position in shares of La-Z-Boy by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 591,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,022,000 after buying an additional 26,009 shares in the last quarter. 99.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About La-Z-Boy

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.