Brown Advisory Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in La-Z-Boy Incorporated $LZB

Brown Advisory Inc. lessened its stake in shares of La-Z-Boy Incorporated (NYSE:LZB) by 6.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 639,115 shares of the company’s stock after selling 42,774 shares during the quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. owned about 1.55% of La-Z-Boy worth $23,756,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in La-Z-Boy by 68.9% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 881,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,466,000 after purchasing an additional 359,736 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new stake in La-Z-Boy during the 1st quarter valued at $10,806,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of La-Z-Boy during the 1st quarter valued at $10,725,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of La-Z-Boy by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,250,053 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,865,000 after buying an additional 100,817 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of La-Z-Boy by 32.1% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 411,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,095,000 after acquiring an additional 100,170 shares during the period. 99.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on LZB shares. Zacks Research upgraded La-Z-Boy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Sidoti raised shares of La-Z-Boy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $36.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of La-Z-Boy in a research note on Monday, December 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $42.50.

La-Z-Boy Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:LZB opened at $38.69 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $33.88 and a 200 day moving average of $36.42. The company has a market cap of $1.60 billion, a PE ratio of 17.75 and a beta of 1.28. La-Z-Boy Incorporated has a 12-month low of $29.03 and a 12-month high of $48.31.

La-Z-Boy (NYSE:LZB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 18th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $522.48 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $517.63 million. La-Z-Boy had a net margin of 4.29% and a return on equity of 11.19%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that La-Z-Boy Incorporated will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

La-Z-Boy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 4th will be issued a $0.242 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 4th. This represents a $0.97 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. This is an increase from La-Z-Boy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. La-Z-Boy’s payout ratio is currently 44.50%.

Insider Transactions at La-Z-Boy

In other La-Z-Boy news, Director Janet Kerr sold 3,372 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.70, for a total value of $120,380.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,412.10. This represents a 48.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

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.