Haverty Furniture Companies (NYSE:HVT) Director Rawson Haverty, Jr. Sells 4,523 Shares

Haverty Furniture Companies, Inc. (NYSE:HVT) Director Rawson Haverty, Jr. sold 4,523 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.42, for a total value of $101,405.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Haverty Furniture Companies Stock Up 4.0%

Shares of HVT traded up $0.89 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $23.22. 98,256 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 123,625. The company has a market capitalization of $377.64 million, a PE ratio of 20.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.32. The business has a 50 day moving average of $21.70 and a 200 day moving average of $21.42. Haverty Furniture Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.01 and a 1-year high of $24.91.

Haverty Furniture Companies (NYSE:HVT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $183.12 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Haverty Furniture Companies, Inc. will post 0.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Haverty Furniture Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.7%. This is a boost from Haverty Furniture Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 25th. Haverty Furniture Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 115.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on HVT. Wall Street Zen upgraded Haverty Furniture Companies from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 9th. Zacks Research lowered Haverty Furniture Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Haverty Furniture Companies in a research note on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce”.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Haverty Furniture Companies by 61.5% in the second quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 1,560,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,757,000 after purchasing an additional 594,476 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Haverty Furniture Companies by 68.7% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 172,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,394,000 after buying an additional 70,060 shares during the period. Man Group plc acquired a new position in shares of Haverty Furniture Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,425,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Haverty Furniture Companies in the second quarter worth about $1,288,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Haverty Furniture Companies during the second quarter worth about $1,259,000. 80.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.