Hooker Furnishings (NASDAQ:HOFT) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Buy”

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Hooker Furnishings (NASDAQ:HOFT) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Saturday morning.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on HOFT. Zacks Research cut shares of Hooker Furnishings from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Hooker Furnishings from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hooker Furnishings currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce”.

Hooker Furnishings Stock Performance

Hooker Furnishings stock opened at $13.97 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.04 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.50, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.11. Hooker Furnishings has a 52-week low of $8.61 and a 52-week high of $18.09. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $14.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.75.

Hooker Furnishings (NASDAQ:HOFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 11th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.17. Hooker Furnishings had a negative net margin of 7.90% and a positive return on equity of 1.61%. The company had revenue of $69.45 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $66.31 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Hooker Furnishings will post 0.77 EPS for the current year.

Hooker Furnishings Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 19th were given a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 18th. Hooker Furnishings’s dividend payout ratio is presently -21.40%.

Institutional Trading of Hooker Furnishings

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Hooker Furnishings by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 120,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,363,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of Hooker Furnishings by 6.0% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 21,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $276,000 after buying an additional 1,218 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hooker Furnishings by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 11,684 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,000 after buying an additional 1,660 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hooker Furnishings by 10.6% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 28,696 shares of the company’s stock valued at $370,000 after buying an additional 2,747 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Hooker Furnishings by 0.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 595,587 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,045,000 after acquiring an additional 4,138 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.60% of the company’s stock.

About Hooker Furnishings

Hooker Furnishings, formerly known as Hooker Furniture Corporation, is a designer, marketer and distributor of high-quality home furnishings. Headquartered in Martinsville, Virginia, the company offers a broad range of wood and upholstered furniture products across bedroom, dining, home office and accent categories. Its portfolio includes solid wood and engineered wood case goods, upholstered seating, accent tables and decorative accessories, reflecting styles that range from traditional to contemporary.

The company’s operations are organized into three reportable segments: Domestic Wholesale, Retail and Logistics, and International.