Hamilton Beach Brands (NYSE:HBB) versus La-Z-Boy (NYSE:LZB) Financial Review

La-Z-Boy (NYSE:LZB) and Hamilton Beach Brands (NYSE:HBB) are both small-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, risk, earnings, institutional ownership and dividends.

Risk & Volatility

La-Z-Boy has a beta of 1.23, meaning that its share price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hamilton Beach Brands has a beta of 0.29, meaning that its share price is 71% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

99.6% of La-Z-Boy shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 50.5% of Hamilton Beach Brands shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.1% of La-Z-Boy shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 39.0% of Hamilton Beach Brands shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

La-Z-Boy pays an annual dividend of $0.97 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Hamilton Beach Brands pays an annual dividend of $0.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. La-Z-Boy pays out 49.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hamilton Beach Brands pays out 11.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. La-Z-Boy has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years and Hamilton Beach Brands has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years. La-Z-Boy is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares La-Z-Boy and Hamilton Beach Brands’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
La-Z-Boy	3.86%	11.79%	6.12%
Hamilton Beach Brands	9.41%	30.70%	14.62%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares La-Z-Boy and Hamilton Beach Brands”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
La-Z-Boy	$2.13 billion	0.58	$101.99 million	$1.97	15.65
Hamilton Beach Brands	$606.85 million	0.67	$26.45 million	$4.25	7.09

La-Z-Boy has higher revenue and earnings than Hamilton Beach Brands. Hamilton Beach Brands is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than La-Z-Boy, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for La-Z-Boy and Hamilton Beach Brands, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
La-Z-Boy	1	1	3	0	2.40
Hamilton Beach Brands	0	0	1	0	3.00

La-Z-Boy presently has a consensus price target of $39.50, indicating a potential upside of 28.08%. Given La-Z-Boy’s higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe La-Z-Boy is more favorable than Hamilton Beach Brands.

Summary

La-Z-Boy beats Hamilton Beach Brands on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About La-Z-Boy

La-Z-Boy Incorporated manufactures, markets, imports, exports, distributes, and retails upholstery furniture products, accessories, and casegoods furniture products in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It operates through Wholesale, Retail, Corporate and Other segments. The Wholesale segment manufactures, and imports upholstered furniture, such as recliners and motion furniture, sofas, loveseats, chairs, sectionals, modulars, ottomans, and sleeper sofas; and imports, distributes, and retails casegoods (wood) furniture, including occasional pieces, bedroom sets, dining room sets, entertainment centers, and occasional pieces. This segment sells its products directly to La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries stores, operators of La-Z-Boy Comfort Studio locations, England Custom Comfort Center locations, dealers, and other independent retailers. The Retail segment sells upholstered furniture, casegoods, and other accessories to the end consumer through its retail network. The company also produces reclining chairs; and manufactures and distributes residential furniture. Its Corporate and Other segment sells the products through its website. The company was formerly known as La-Z-Boy Chair Company and changed its name to La-Z-Boy Incorporated in 1996. La-Z-Boy Incorporated was founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Monroe, Michigan.

About Hamilton Beach Brands

Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, markets, and distributes small electric household and specialty housewares appliances in the United States and internationally. It offers air fryers, blenders, coffee makers, food processors, indoor electric grills, irons, juicers, mixers, slow cookers, toasters, and toaster ovens. The company also provides consumer products under the Hamilton Beach and Proctor Silex brands; products under the Hamilton Beach Professional in the premium market; farm-to-table and field-to-table food processing equipment under the Weston brand; countertop appliances under the Wolf Gourmet brand; garment care products under the CHI brand; cocktail delivery system under the Bartesian brand; air purifiers under the Clorox and TrueAir brands; and water filtration systems under the Brita brand. In addition, it offers injection care management system under the Hamilton Beach Health brand; and commercial products under the Hamilton Beach Commercial and the Proctor Silex Commercial brands, as well as supplies private label products. The company sells its products through a network of mass merchandisers, e-commerce retailers, national department stores, variety store and drug store chains, specialty home retailers, distributors, restaurants, fast food chains, bars, hotels, and other retail outlets. Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Company was founded in 1904 and is headquartered in Glen Allen, Virginia.