Analyst boosts Haverty Furniture to 'Outperform'

Analyst lifts Haverty Furniture's rating on better-than-expected 3rd-quarter sales

Related Quotes

Symbol	Price	Change
HVT	13.27	+0.22

{"s" : "hvt","k" : "c10,l10,p20,t10","o" : "","j" : ""}

NEW YORK (AP) -- An analyst raised his rating for Haverty Furniture Cos. on Monday, citing the retailer's better-than-expected third-quarter sales.

On Thursday Haverty said its third-quarter sales fell 13.5 percent to $151.9 million, but the results still topped the $145.7 million sales estimate of Raymond James analyst Budd Bugatch. Sales at stores open at least a year dropped 11.9 percent, which surpassed his forecast for a 16 percent decline.

Sales at stores open at least a year are a key indicator of retailer performance since they measure growth at existing stores rather than newly opened ones.

Bugatch expects improving sector conditions will help bolster the company's results.

"As evidence mounts of stabilization of demand for residential furniture, Haverty's future economics will benefit from higher sales, better cost disciplines and improved merchandise margins," he wrote in a client note.

Bugatch lifted the Atlanta-based company's rating to "Outperform" from "Market Perform."

Shares of Haverty Furniture gained 73 cents, or 6 percent, to a fresh 52-week high of $12.81 in morning trading. The stock reached a 52-week low of $7.61 in March.