Haverty Furniture Companies, Inc. (NYSE:HVT) Short Interest Up 8.4% in July

Haverty Furniture Companies, Inc. (NYSE:HVT) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,800,000 shares, an increase of 8.4% from the June 30th total of 1,660,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 160,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 11.2 days. Currently, 13.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Haverty Furniture Companies Trading Up 1.3 %

HVT stock traded up $0.38 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $28.65. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 133,012 shares, compared to its average volume of 129,646. The company has a market cap of $465.28 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.44. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $26.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.30. Haverty Furniture Companies has a 12 month low of $23.09 and a 12 month high of $37.05.

Haverty Furniture Companies (NYSE:HVT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $184.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $192.70 million. Haverty Furniture Companies had a return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 5.64%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Haverty Furniture Companies will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Haverty Furniture Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th were paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 23rd. This is a boost from Haverty Furniture Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Haverty Furniture Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Haverty Furniture Companies in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded Haverty Furniture Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 19th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Haverty Furniture Companies

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HVT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Haverty Furniture Companies by 0.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,048,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,162,000 after acquiring an additional 5,342 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Haverty Furniture Companies by 109.2% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 59,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,101,000 after acquiring an additional 30,894 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Haverty Furniture Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $238,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in Haverty Furniture Companies by 62.8% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 4,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,000 after acquiring an additional 1,740 shares during the period. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Haverty Furniture Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $235,000. 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.