Hooker Furnishings (NASDAQ:HOFT) Lowered to “Sell” Rating by StockNews.com

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

Hooker Furnishings Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ HOFT opened at $13.13 on Wednesday. Hooker Furnishings has a fifty-two week low of $12.06 and a fifty-two week high of $25.80. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.70. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, equities research analysts forecast that Hooker Furnishings will post -0.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Hooker Furnishings Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hooker Furnishings news, Director Paulette Garafalo sold 2,489 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.10, for a total value of $42,561.90. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 20,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $355,389.30. This represents a 10.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hooker Furnishings

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HOFT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Hooker Furnishings by 107.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 43,688 shares of the company’s stock valued at $790,000 after acquiring an additional 22,635 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Hooker Furnishings by 270.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 15,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $279,000 after buying an additional 11,288 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Hooker Furnishings by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 44,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $796,000 after acquiring an additional 3,827 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hooker Furnishings by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 241,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,364,000 after acquiring an additional 2,493 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Hooker Furnishings by 26.4% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 19,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 3,966 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.63% of the company’s stock.

Hooker Furnishings Company Profile

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.