Topic: Growth Stocks

La-Z-Boy Inc. $0.97 – New York symbol LZB

LA-Z-BOY INC. $0.97 (New York symbol LZB; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 51.5 million; Market cap: $50 million; Priceto- sales ratio: 0.05; WSSF Rating: Speculative) makes reclining chairs and other furniture.

The sharp decline in housing prices and consumer confidence continues to hurt La-Z-Boy. In its third fiscal quarter, which ended January 24, 2009, its sales fell 22.7%, to $288.6 million from $373.1 million a year earlier. Despite several restructurings over the past few years, including cutting jobs and shifting production to low-cost countries, La-Z-Boy lost $1.25 a share in the latest quarter, compared with a profit of $0.18 a share a year earlier.

The company has suspended its quarterly dividend of $0.04 a share to conserve cash, which should save it $8 million a year. La-Z-Boy’s total debt of $90.4 million is equal to a high 1.8 times its market cap. It also holds $18.7 million, or $0.36 a share, in cash.

We feel that La-Z-Boy will survive, and its lower costs will fuel earnings once the economy recovers. However, due to its dividend cut and weaker balance sheet, we’ve cut its WSSF Rating from Average to Speculative. We’ve also moved La-Z-Boy from our Conservative Portfolio to our Aggressive Portfolio.

La-Z-Boy is a hold.

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