Hillenbrand (NYSE:HI) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hillenbrand (NYSE:HI) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Thursday.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on HI. KeyCorp reduced their price target on Hillenbrand from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $33.00 target price on shares of Hillenbrand in a report on Friday, November 15th.

Hillenbrand Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE HI opened at $30.63 on Thursday. Hillenbrand has a 12 month low of $25.11 and a 12 month high of $50.58. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $31.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.15 billion, a PE ratio of -10.24 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

Hillenbrand (NYSE:HI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $837.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $793.38 million. Hillenbrand had a negative net margin of 6.63% and a positive return on equity of 14.86%. The company’s revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Hillenbrand will post 3.2 EPS for the current year.

Hillenbrand Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.225 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. This is a boost from Hillenbrand’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Hillenbrand’s dividend payout ratio is presently -30.10%.

Institutional Trading of Hillenbrand

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Hillenbrand in the third quarter worth approximately $17,178,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Hillenbrand by 13.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,184,077 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,408,000 after buying an additional 253,730 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Hillenbrand during the 3rd quarter valued at $4,368,000. Bernzott Capital Advisors raised its position in shares of Hillenbrand by 51.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors now owns 225,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,276,000 after buying an additional 76,533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Counselors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hillenbrand by 30.1% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 322,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,959,000 after acquiring an additional 74,527 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.09% of the company’s stock.

About Hillenbrand

Hillenbrand, Inc operates as an industrial company in the United States and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Advanced Process Solutions and Molding Technology Solutions. The Advanced Process Solutions segment designs, engineers, manufactures, markets, and services process and material handling equipment and systems comprising compounding, extrusion, and material handling equipment, equipment system design services, as well as offers mixing technology, ingredient automation, and portion process; and provides screening and separating equipment for various industries, including plastics, food and pharmaceuticals, chemicals, fertilizers, minerals, energy, wastewater treatment, forest products, and other general industrials.