La-Z-Boy Incorporated (LZB): Hedge Funds Aren’t Crazy About It, Insider Sentiment Unchanged

Is it smart to be bullish on La-Z-Boy Incorporated (NYSE:LZB)?

In today’s marketplace, there are many metrics shareholders can use to monitor stocks. Some of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best hedge fund managers can outperform the broader indices by a solid margin (see just how much).

Equally as necessary, bullish insider trading activity is another way to look at the financial markets. There are a number of stimuli for a corporate insider to drop shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would buy. Many academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this method if shareholders understand what to do (learn more here).

Keeping this in mind, it’s important to examine the latest info surrounding La-Z-Boy Incorporated (NYSE:LZB).

What does the smart money think about La-Z-Boy Incorporated (NYSE:LZB)?

At Q2’s end, a total of 14 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -13% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings substantially.

When using filings from the hedgies we track, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates had the biggest position in La-Z-Boy Incorporated (NYSE:LZB), worth close to $27.9 million, accounting for 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. On Royce & Associates’s heels is Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson of Adage Capital Management, with a $21.1 million position; the fund has 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedgies that hold long positions include Robert Bishop’s Impala Asset Management, Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management and Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors.

Due to the fact La-Z-Boy Incorporated (NYSE:LZB) has experienced dropping sentiment from the top-tier hedge fund industry, it’s safe to say that there exists a select few funds that elected to cut their positions entirely in Q1. At the top of the heap, John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors sold off the biggest investment of the “upper crust” of funds we track, totaling about $0.3 million in stock. Ken Gray and Steve Walsh’s fund, Bryn Mawr Capital, also cut its stock, about $0.3 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest fell by 2 funds in Q1.

What have insiders been doing with La-Z-Boy Incorporated (NYSE:LZB)?

Insider buying is best served when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the last 180-day time period, La-Z-Boy Incorporated (NYSE:LZB) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

We’ll also take a look at the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to La-Z-Boy Incorporated (NYSE:LZB). These stocks are Tempur-Pedic International Inc. (NYSE:TPX), American Woodmark Corporation (NASDAQ:AMWD), Mattress Firm Holding Corp (NASDAQ:MFRM), Select Comfort Corp. (NASDAQ:SCSS), and Ethan Allen Interiors Inc. (NYSE:ETH). All of these stocks are in the home furnishings & fixtures industry and their market caps match LZB’s market cap.