Haverty Furniture Companies (NYSE:HVT) Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Haverty Furniture Companies (NYSE:HVT) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on HVT. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Haverty Furniture Companies in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Haverty Furniture Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Haverty Furniture Companies has an average rating of “Reduce”.

Haverty Furniture Companies Trading Down 0.3%

HVT opened at $26.35 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $428.63 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.11, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.28. Haverty Furniture Companies has a 12-month low of $17.01 and a 12-month high of $26.93. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.66.

Haverty Furniture Companies (NYSE:HVT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.04. Haverty Furniture Companies had a net margin of 2.62% and a return on equity of 6.34%. The company had revenue of $194.48 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $183.12 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Haverty Furniture Companies will post 0.88 EPS for the current year.

Haverty Furniture Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 25th were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This is a boost from Haverty Furniture Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 25th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.0%. Haverty Furniture Companies’s payout ratio is currently 115.79%.

Insider Transactions at Haverty Furniture Companies

In other Haverty Furniture Companies news, Director Rawson Haverty, Jr. sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.86, for a total transaction of $186,450.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,354 shares of company stock valued at $345,898. Insiders own 8.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Haverty Furniture Companies

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HVT. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Haverty Furniture Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of Haverty Furniture Companies during the second quarter worth $58,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Haverty Furniture Companies by 7.9% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 8,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $175,000 after buying an additional 651 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Haverty Furniture Companies by 146.3% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $187,000 after buying an additional 5,465 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of Haverty Furniture Companies in the second quarter worth about $204,000. 80.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Haverty Furniture Companies

Haverty Furniture Companies, Inc operates as a specialty retailer of residential furniture and home décor in the United States. Founded in 1885 by J.J. Haverty and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the company offers a broad assortment of upholstered furniture, case goods, mattresses, area rugs and decorative accessories. Customers can shop through a network of company-owned showrooms as well as an e-commerce platform, supported by in-house design services, delivery options and consumer financing programs.

Over more than a century of operation, Havertys has expanded its presence primarily across the Southeast and select markets beyond.