Market Insider

Two office furniture stocks rise after upgrade

Herman Miller furniture
Source: Herman Miller

Shares of office furniture companies Steelcase and Herman Miller rose Thursday after upgrades on both stocks, following their recent earnings reports.

Steelcase shares closed up nearly 4 percent above $17 a share after Raymond James on Thursday upgraded the stock from market perform to a strong buy, and initiated a 12-month target price of $19 a share.

"Despite the challenges facing the office furniture industry, we believe [Steelcase] has the best risk-reward profile of its office furniture peers," Raymond James analyst Budd Bugatch said in a note. "At this point, we believe the negative factors impacting the industry (competitive pricing, and raw material inflation) are well known and reflected in the stock price."

On Tuesday, Steelcase reported fourth-quarter earnings per share that missed, but revenue that beat Reuters estimates.

Five-day performance of Steelcase

Separately, Raymond James raised its view on Herman Miller from underperform to market perform. Shares closed the day up more than 8 percent.

Bugatch said in a note that the company's earnings per share beat on Wednesday makes the stock more fairly priced. The furniture-maker and designer did report quarterly sales that missed FactSet estimates, however.

Five-day performance of Herman Miller