Hooker Furnishings (NASDAQ:HOFT) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Hooker Furnishings (NASDAQ:HOFT) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Wednesday.

Hooker Furnishings Trading Down 0.8 %

HOFT opened at $13.12 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $140.52 million, a P/E ratio of -14.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.25. Hooker Furnishings has a 12 month low of $12.06 and a 12 month high of $25.80. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.67. The company has a current ratio of 3.16, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

Hooker Furnishings (NASDAQ:HOFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.02 by ($0.22). Hooker Furnishings had a negative net margin of 2.46% and a negative return on equity of 3.51%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Hooker Furnishings will post -0.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hooker Furnishings Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.01%. Hooker Furnishings’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -101.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hooker Furnishings news, Director Paulette Garafalo sold 2,489 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.10, for a total transaction of $42,561.90. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 20,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $355,389.30. The trade was a 10.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hooker Furnishings

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HOFT. Peapod Lane Capital LLC bought a new stake in Hooker Furnishings during the 4th quarter worth about $1,893,000. Azarias Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in Hooker Furnishings by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Azarias Capital Management L.P. now owns 754,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,568,000 after buying an additional 70,281 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Hooker Furnishings by 95.5% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 113,909 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,596,000 after buying an additional 55,629 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Hooker Furnishings by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 1,335,593 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,712,000 after purchasing an additional 49,212 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Hooker Furnishings by 107.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 43,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $790,000 after purchasing an additional 22,635 shares during the last quarter. 73.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Hooker Furnishings

Hooker Furnishings Corporation designs, manufactures, imports, and markets residential household, hospitality, and contract furniture. It operates in three segments: Hooker Branded, Home Meridian, and Domestic Upholstery. The Hooker Branded segment offers design categories, including home entertainment, home office, accent, dining, and bedroom furniture under the Hooker Furniture brand; and imported upholstered furniture under the Hooker Upholstery brand.