Brokerages Set La-Z-Boy Incorporated (NYSE:LZB) Target Price at $42.50

La-Z-Boy Incorporated (NYSE:LZB) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the five brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $42.50.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on LZB shares. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of La-Z-Boy in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Sidoti upgraded La-Z-Boy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $36.00 to $39.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Zacks Research cut La-Z-Boy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 19th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating on shares of La-Z-Boy in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of La-Z-Boy in a research note on Monday, December 22nd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in La-Z-Boy by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 16,056 shares of the company’s stock worth $628,000 after buying an additional 1,598 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of La-Z-Boy by 3.2% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 24,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $971,000 after acquiring an additional 769 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of La-Z-Boy by 12.7% during the second quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 5,793 shares of the company’s stock worth $215,000 after acquiring an additional 652 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in La-Z-Boy by 49.5% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 6,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $233,000 after purchasing an additional 2,072 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC boosted its position in La-Z-Boy by 19.1% during the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 10,466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,680 shares during the last quarter. 99.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

La-Z-Boy Stock Performance

Shares of LZB opened at $38.82 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $38.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.04. The company has a market capitalization of $1.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.81 and a beta of 1.27. La-Z-Boy has a one year low of $29.03 and a one year high of $48.13.

La-Z-Boy (NYSE:LZB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 18th. The company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $522.48 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $517.63 million. La-Z-Boy had a net margin of 4.29% and a return on equity of 11.19%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that La-Z-Boy will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

La-Z-Boy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 4th were given a $0.242 dividend. This represents a $0.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. This is a positive change from La-Z-Boy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 4th. La-Z-Boy’s payout ratio is currently 44.04%.

About La-Z-Boy

La-Z-Boy Incorporated (NYSE: LZB) is a leading U.S. manufacturer and marketer of residential furniture, best known for its upholstered recliners, sofas, stationary chairs and sleeper sofas. The company offers a broad range of products in both fabric and leather, complemented by occasional tables, desks, lamps and other home furnishings through its branded retail network.

Founded in 1927 by cousins Edward Knabusch and Edwin Shoemaker in Monroe, Michigan, La-Z-Boy pioneered the modern reclining chair.