Haverty Furniture Companies (NYSE:HVT) Shares Cross Above 200 Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Haverty Furniture Companies, Inc. (NYSE:HVT) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $24.32 and traded as high as $28.81. Haverty Furniture Companies shares last traded at $28.4080, with a volume of 217,466 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on HVT shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Haverty Furniture Companies from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Haverty Furniture Companies from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Haverty Furniture Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold”.

Haverty Furniture Companies Stock Up 0.8%

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.35. The firm has a market cap of $432.47 million, a P/E ratio of 20.39, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22.

Haverty Furniture Companies (NYSE:HVT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.02. Haverty Furniture Companies had a return on equity of 7.15% and a net margin of 2.93%.The company had revenue of $194.94 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $189.19 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Haverty Furniture Companies, Inc. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Haverty Furniture Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th were paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 25th. Haverty Furniture Companies’s payout ratio is 97.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Haverty Furniture Companies

In related news, Chairman Clarence Smith sold 20,991 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.16, for a total transaction of $591,106.56. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 71,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,019,212.80. This represents a 22.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 8.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Haverty Furniture Companies in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Fifth Third Bancorp purchased a new stake in shares of Haverty Furniture Companies in the first quarter valued at about $49,000. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Haverty Furniture Companies in the second quarter valued at about $205,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Haverty Furniture Companies during the second quarter valued at about $235,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Haverty Furniture Companies during the second quarter valued at about $256,000. 80.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Haverty Furniture Companies

Haverty Furniture Companies, Inc is a specialty retailer of residential furniture and related home furnishings. The company sells products for living rooms, bedrooms, dining rooms, home offices and other areas of the home, including upholstered furniture, case goods, mattresses, rugs, lighting and home accessories.

Founded in Atlanta in 1885 by James J. Haverty, the company operates under the Havertys name and serves customers through a network of retail stores and its e-commerce platform.