William Blair Investment Management LLC Increases Position in La-Z-Boy Incorporated (NYSE:LZB)

William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its position in La-Z-Boy Incorporated (NYSE:LZB) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 999,523 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,125 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned about 2.41% of La-Z-Boy worth $43,549,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of La-Z-Boy by 244.5% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 658 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. purchased a new position in La-Z-Boy during the third quarter valued at $30,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC purchased a new position in La-Z-Boy during the third quarter valued at $43,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in La-Z-Boy during the fourth quarter valued at $51,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in La-Z-Boy by 176.5% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,973 shares of the company’s stock valued at $171,000 after acquiring an additional 2,536 shares in the last quarter. 99.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

La-Z-Boy Stock Performance

LZB opened at $38.45 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.21 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a fifty day moving average of $44.38 and a 200 day moving average of $42.94. La-Z-Boy Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $32.00 and a fifty-two week high of $48.31.

La-Z-Boy (NYSE:LZB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $521.78 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $516.47 million. La-Z-Boy had a net margin of 5.92% and a return on equity of 12.38%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that La-Z-Boy Incorporated will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current year.

La-Z-Boy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.29%. La-Z-Boy’s payout ratio is currently 30.24%.

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.