La-Z-Boy (NYSE:LZB) Stock Crosses Above 200 Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Shares of La-Z-Boy Incorporated (NYSE:LZB) crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $36.50 and traded as high as $40.23. La-Z-Boy shares last traded at $39.9590, with a volume of 401,237 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LZB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of 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, July 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.00.

La-Z-Boy Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.25. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.50.

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

La-Z-Boy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 2nd were given a dividend of $0.242 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. La-Z-Boy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Melinda D. Whittington sold 7,364 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $294,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 415,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,602,440. This represents a 1.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Michael Adam Leggett sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.66, for a total value of $374,940.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 47,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,980,974.66. This represents a 15.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 66,299 shares of company stock valued at $2,677,491 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in La-Z-Boy by 208.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,492,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,237,000 after purchasing an additional 1,009,428 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp acquired a new position in La-Z-Boy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $18,433,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in La-Z-Boy by 100.1% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 627,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,392,000 after purchasing an additional 313,932 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of La-Z-Boy by 46.3% in the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 895,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,357,000 after buying an additional 283,364 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its holdings in shares of La-Z-Boy by 64.5% in the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 391,470 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,551,000 after buying an additional 153,498 shares during the last quarter. 99.62% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About La-Z-Boy

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.