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

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

Hooker Furnishings Price Performance

NASDAQ HOFT opened at $13.07 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $139.98 million, a P/E ratio of -14.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.25. Hooker Furnishings has a 1 year low of $12.06 and a 1 year high of $24.82. The business’s fifty day moving average is $13.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 3.16.

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

Hooker Furnishings Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Hooker Furnishings’s payout ratio is -101.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hooker Furnishings

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in Hooker Furnishings by 97.5% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 14,494 shares of the company’s stock worth $203,000 after purchasing an additional 7,157 shares in the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Hooker Furnishings by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 129,987 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,821,000 after buying an additional 1,535 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Hooker Furnishings by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 16,008 shares of the company’s stock valued at $224,000 after acquiring an additional 1,875 shares during the period. 4WEALTH Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Hooker Furnishings in the fourth quarter valued at about $222,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Hooker Furnishings by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 170,582 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,390,000 after acquiring an additional 889 shares during the period. 73.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.