Hillenbrand (NYSE:HI) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Hillenbrand, Inc. (NYSE:HI) shares gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $33.95, but opened at $30.64. Hillenbrand shares last traded at $30.45, with a volume of 114,245 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Hillenbrand from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. StockNews.com lowered Hillenbrand from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $33.00 price objective on shares of Hillenbrand in a report on Friday, November 15th.

Hillenbrand Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The company has a market cap of $2.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.97 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $32.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.91.

Hillenbrand (NYSE:HI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.02. Hillenbrand had a positive return on equity of 15.00% and a negative net margin of 7.12%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.69 EPS. Analysts predict that Hillenbrand, Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Hillenbrand Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.225 per share. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This is a boost from Hillenbrand’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Hillenbrand’s payout ratio is -28.66%.

Institutional Trading of Hillenbrand

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of HI. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hillenbrand during the second quarter worth $394,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in Hillenbrand by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 37,639 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,506,000 after purchasing an additional 1,366 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Hillenbrand by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 26,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,062,000 after purchasing an additional 2,259 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hillenbrand by 78.4% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 31,937 shares of the company’s stock valued at $888,000 after purchasing an additional 14,034 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in shares of Hillenbrand by 17.3% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 16,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $453,000 after buying an additional 2,400 shares during the period. 89.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.