Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases New Holdings in La-Z-Boy Incorporated $LZB

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of La-Z-Boy Incorporated (NYSE:LZB) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 18,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $588,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of La-Z-Boy by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,814,114 shares of the company’s stock valued at $179,422,000 after purchasing an additional 38,513 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in La-Z-Boy by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,655,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,968,000 after buying an additional 6,901 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in La-Z-Boy by 24.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,851,873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,019,000 after buying an additional 358,945 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its stake in La-Z-Boy by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,476,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,043,000 after buying an additional 11,983 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in La-Z-Boy by 46.3% during the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 895,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,357,000 after buying an additional 283,364 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.62% of the company’s stock.

La-Z-Boy Trading Down 0.9%

LZB stock opened at $39.06 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.56 billion, a PE ratio of 15.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.25. La-Z-Boy Incorporated has a 12-month low of $29.03 and a 12-month high of $44.90. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.47.

La-Z-Boy (NYSE:LZB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, June 16th. The company reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.44. La-Z-Boy had a return on equity of 11.97% and a net margin of 4.80%.The business had revenue of $570.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $569.23 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.36 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that La-Z-Boy Incorporated will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current year.

La-Z-Boy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 2nd were issued a $0.242 dividend. This represents a $0.97 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 2nd. La-Z-Boy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Jennifer Lynn Mccurry sold 3,715 shares of La-Z-Boy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.05, for a total value of $152,500.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 16,763 shares in the company, valued at $688,121.15. The trade was a 18.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Terrence James Linz sold 2,500 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 64,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,590,128.09. The trade was a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 66,299 shares of company stock worth $2,677,491 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on LZB. Weiss Ratings raised La-Z-Boy from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Wall Street Zen raised La-Z-Boy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.00.

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.