Haverty Furniture Companies (NYSE:HVT) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Strong-Buy Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Haverty Furniture Companies (NYSE:HVT) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Sunday.

HVT has been the subject of a number of other reports. 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. Zacks Research cut shares of Haverty Furniture Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Haverty Furniture Companies presently has an average rating of “Reduce”.

Haverty Furniture Companies Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of Haverty Furniture Companies stock traded up $0.49 on Friday, reaching $22.45. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 120,235 shares, compared to its average volume of 123,496. Haverty Furniture Companies has a 52 week low of $17.01 and a 52 week high of $24.91. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.22. The company has a market capitalization of $365.11 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.32.

Haverty Furniture Companies (NYSE:HVT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.04. Haverty Furniture Companies had a return on equity of 6.34% and a net margin of 2.62%.The company had revenue of ($362.04) million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $183.12 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Haverty Furniture Companies will post 0.88 EPS for the current year.

Haverty Furniture Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 25th will be given a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 25th. This is a boost from Haverty Furniture Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.9%. Haverty Furniture Companies’s payout ratio is 112.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Haverty Furniture Companies

In other news, Director Rawson Haverty, Jr. sold 15,000 shares of Haverty Furniture Companies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.84, for a total transaction of $342,600.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 29,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $674,305.32. The trade was a 33.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 40,000 shares of company stock worth $918,900. Company insiders own 8.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Haverty Furniture Companies

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Haverty Furniture Companies by 1,929.3% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,447 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Haverty Furniture Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. State of Wyoming bought a new position in Haverty Furniture Companies in the 2nd quarter worth $58,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Haverty Furniture Companies by 509.5% in the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,736 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 3,123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its holdings in Haverty Furniture Companies by 163.0% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 2,879 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.57% of the company’s stock.

About Haverty Furniture Companies

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.