HNI (NYSE:HNI) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of HNI (NYSE:HNI) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Friday morning.

Separately, Benchmark raised their price target on HNI from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th.

HNI Stock Performance

Shares of HNI opened at $53.89 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. HNI has a 52-week low of $32.70 and a 52-week high of $56.13. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $51.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.17. The company has a market capitalization of $2.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.85.

HNI (NYSE:HNI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The business services provider reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.18. HNI had a net margin of 4.39% and a return on equity of 19.15%. The firm had revenue of $623.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $637.74 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.55 EPS. HNI’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that HNI will post 3.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HNI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Friday, August 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. HNI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 97.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at HNI

In other news, VP Steven M. Bradford sold 2,380 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total transaction of $114,311.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 61,642 shares in the company, valued at $2,960,665.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CFO Marshall H. Bridges sold 4,138 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.50, for a total value of $221,383.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 78,346 shares in the company, valued at $4,191,511. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Steven M. Bradford sold 2,380 shares of HNI stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total value of $114,311.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 61,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,960,665.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 134,029 shares of company stock worth $6,766,593. 3.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC grew its stake in HNI by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 27,150 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,222,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP increased its position in HNI by 5.2% during the second quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 8,100 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $365,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of HNI by 6.4% in the second quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 7,249 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $326,000 after acquiring an additional 436 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in shares of HNI by 3.4% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 13,237 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $596,000 after acquiring an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arjuna Capital boosted its stake in shares of HNI by 1.6% during the second quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 34,851 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,569,000 after acquiring an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.26% of the company’s stock.

About HNI

HNI Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture, sale, and marketing of workplace furnishings and residential building products primarily in the United States and Canada. The company operates through two segments, Workplace Furnishings and Residential Building Products. The Workplace Furnishings segment offers a range of commercial and home office furniture, including panel-based and freestanding furniture systems, seating, storage, benching, tables, architectural products, and ancillary and hospitality products, as well as social collaborative items under the HON, Allsteel, Beyond, Gunlocke, HBF, HBF Textiles, HNI India, Kimball, National, Etc., Interwoven, David Edward, Kimball Hospitality, and D'style brands.