Haverty Furniture Companies’ (HVT) Buy Rating Reiterated at Benchmark

Benchmark reiterated their buy rating on shares of Haverty Furniture Companies (NYSE:HVT) in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $45.00 price objective on the stock.

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Haverty Furniture Companies from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report on Saturday, January 6th.

Haverty Furniture Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HVT traded up $1.07 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $29.78. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 38,303 shares, compared to its average volume of 102,526. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $32.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $480.95 million, a PE ratio of 10.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.54. Haverty Furniture Companies has a 52 week low of $25.05 and a 52 week high of $37.05.

Haverty Furniture Companies (NYSE:HVT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.95 by ($0.06). Haverty Furniture Companies had a return on equity of 14.94% and a net margin of 5.64%. The company had revenue of $210.74 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $230.06 million. Analysts anticipate that Haverty Furniture Companies will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Haverty Furniture Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 23rd. This is an increase from Haverty Furniture Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Haverty Furniture Companies’s payout ratio is currently 43.64%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Haverty Furniture Companies

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Haverty Furniture Companies by 4.1% in the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 75,024 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,159,000 after buying an additional 2,933 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in Haverty Furniture Companies during the third quarter valued at about $814,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Haverty Furniture Companies during the third quarter valued at $244,000. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Haverty Furniture Companies by 40.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 15,337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $441,000 after purchasing an additional 4,387 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Haverty Furniture Companies by 2.1% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 29,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $855,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.57% of the company’s stock.

Haverty Furniture Companies Company Profile

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.