Haverty Furniture Cos Stock Price, News & Analysis

Haverty Furniture Companies, Inc. (NYSE: HVT and HVT.A) is a specialty retailer in the furniture stores segment of the retail trade sector. The company focuses on residential home furnishings and accessories, operating as a full-service home furnishings retailer. According to company disclosures, Havertys provides customers with a wide selection of quality merchandise in middle to upper-middle price ranges, positioning its offering toward consumers seeking style and quality at accessible, but not entry-level, price points.

Havertys traces its history back to its establishment in 1885, reflecting a long operating track record in furniture retailing. The company is incorporated in Maryland and maintains its principal executive offices in Atlanta, Georgia, as indicated in its SEC filings. Its common stock and Class A common stock trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols HVT and HVT.A, respectively.

The company operates a network of showrooms in the Southern and Midwestern regions of the United States. Recent company press releases describe a footprint of approximately 128–130+ showrooms in 17 states in these regions, with references to 129 and 130 showrooms in different periods. All of Havertys’ activities are encompassed in its Merchandise division, which is focused on the sale of residential furniture and related accessories through its store base and associated operations.

Havertys’ product assortment, as described in available information, includes a variety of residential furniture and accessories. Polygon data notes that the company offers items such as sofa tables, sleepers, end tables, cocktail tables, accent pieces, display cabinets, wall decor, floral and trees, and other related products. The company has also stated that it derives the majority of its revenue from its upholstery products and, secondarily, from bedroom furniture, highlighting the importance of seating and bedroom categories within its merchandise mix.

As a full-service home furnishings retailer, Havertys emphasizes providing a broad selection of coordinated home furniture and décor in its showrooms. Company communications highlight that customers can access a wide selection of quality merchandise, and the retailer’s long history in the sector is referenced as part of its experience in serving home furnishings customers.

Havertys’ financial reporting and investor communications also provide insight into how it views its operations. In its earnings releases, the company discusses comparable-store sales ("comp-store" sales) as a key performance measure, indicating the performance of existing stores and its website by comparing sales growth for a particular month over the corresponding month in the prior year. Stores are considered non-comparable if they were not open during the corresponding month or if selling square footage has changed significantly.

The company also explains aspects of its cost structure. It notes that it includes substantially all occupancy and home delivery costs in selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses, as well as a portion of warehousing expenses. As a result, its gross profit may not be directly comparable to entities that classify these costs within cost of goods sold. Havertys classifies SG&A expenses as either variable or fixed and discretionary. Variable expenses consist primarily of selling and delivery costs, including compensation and related benefits for commission-based sales associates, discounts paid for third-party financing of customer sales, and transaction fees for credit card usage. Delivery costs include personnel, fuel, and other expenses related to this function, which the company does not outsource.

Fixed and discretionary SG&A expenses, as described by Havertys, include rent, depreciation and amortization and other occupancy costs for stores, warehouses and offices, along with all advertising and administrative costs. These disclosures provide investors with additional context on how the company manages its operating expenses and how its cost structure is organized between variable and fixed components.

Havertys has also discussed EBITDA as a non-GAAP financial measure in its earnings materials. The company presents EBITDA as income before income taxes, adjusted for interest income, net, and depreciation and amortization. Management states that it believes EBITDA is a meaningful measure to share with investors as useful information on operating results and as a key metric used in financial and operational decision making. The company notes that its non-GAAP measures should not be considered in isolation or as substitutes for GAAP metrics, and that definitions and uses of non-GAAP measures may differ from those used by other companies.

In its liquidity discussions, Havertys refers to free cash flow, describing it as operating cash flow less capital expenditures, and details how cash flows are allocated among capital investment, dividends, and share repurchases. The company’s communications also indicate that it has no debt outstanding in the periods described and access to an undrawn credit facility, illustrating its approach to balance sheet management as disclosed in its reports.

Havertys has a long history of returning capital to shareholders through dividends. Company press releases state that Havertys has paid a cash dividend in each year since 1935. The board of directors periodically declares quarterly cash dividends on both the common stock and Class A common stock, and recent announcements have included incremental increases in the per-share dividend rates.

For investors analyzing Havertys as a furniture retailer, these disclosures collectively highlight a business centered on residential furniture and accessories, a store base concentrated in Southern and Midwestern U.S. states, a merchandise-driven operating segment, and a cost structure and financial reporting approach that emphasize gross margin management, SG&A classification, and non-GAAP metrics such as EBITDA and free cash flow. The company’s long operating history and stated dividend record also form part of its profile as a public company in the furniture stores industry.