La-Z-Boy (NYSE:LZB) Shares Gap Up After Dividend Announcement

La-Z-Boy Incorporated (NYSE:LZB) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday after the company announced a dividend. The stock had previously closed at $42.31, but opened at $45.00. La-Z-Boy shares last traded at $42.62, with a volume of 149,340 shares changing hands.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is an increase from La-Z-Boy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. La-Z-Boy’s payout ratio is currently 27.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Sidoti cut La-Z-Boy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $43.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st.

La-Z-Boy Trading Up 1.4 %

The company has a market cap of $1.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.02 and a beta of 1.29. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $41.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.60.

La-Z-Boy (NYSE:LZB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 20th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $495.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $482.23 million. La-Z-Boy had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 6.00%. The business’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.62 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that La-Z-Boy Incorporated will post 2.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other La-Z-Boy news, CAO Jennifer Lynn Mccurry sold 4,414 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.31, for a total transaction of $182,342.34. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at $546,779.16. This represents a 25.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Janet Kerr sold 3,890 shares of La-Z-Boy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.89, for a total transaction of $159,062.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $137,881.08. The trade was a 53.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On La-Z-Boy

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its stake in shares of La-Z-Boy by 32.0% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 49,422 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,842,000 after purchasing an additional 11,981 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its position in La-Z-Boy by 263.6% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 150,617 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,615,000 after acquiring an additional 109,188 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of La-Z-Boy in the second quarter worth about $740,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of La-Z-Boy by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 64,436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,425,000 after purchasing an additional 2,717 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of La-Z-Boy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,501,000. 99.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.