StockNews.com Downgrades HNI (NYSE:HNI) to Buy

HNI (NYSE:HNI) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Friday.

Separately, Benchmark lifted their price target on shares of HNI from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th.

HNI Trading Up 0.2 %

HNI opened at $52.56 on Friday. HNI has a 1-year low of $32.70 and a 1-year high of $56.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company has a market cap of $2.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $51.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.10.

HNI (NYSE:HNI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The business services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $637.74 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that HNI will post 3.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey D. Lorenger sold 72,102 shares of HNI stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.32, for a total transaction of $3,556,070.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 296,892 shares in the company, valued at $14,642,713.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, VP Steven M. Bradford sold 2,380 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 61,642 shares in the company, valued at $2,960,665.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey D. Lorenger sold 72,102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.32, for a total transaction of $3,556,070.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 296,892 shares in the company, valued at $14,642,713.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 134,029 shares of company stock worth $6,766,593 over the last three months. 3.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HNI. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in HNI during the second quarter worth about $29,000. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in HNI during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new position in HNI during the first quarter worth about $202,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in HNI during the first quarter worth about $245,000. Finally, Bailard Inc. purchased a new position in HNI in the second quarter valued at about $248,000. 75.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HNI Company Profile

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.