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

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

HNI Price Performance

Shares of HNI stock traded down $2.43 on Friday, hitting $46.72. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 521,440 shares, compared to its average volume of 300,198. The company has a market capitalization of $2.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.90. HNI has a 52-week low of $40.94 and a 52-week high of $58.42. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $49.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $51.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

HNI (NYSE:HNI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.13. HNI had a net margin of 4.83% and a return on equity of 19.29%. The company had revenue of $642.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $657.03 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that HNI will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other HNI news, Director Larry B. Porcellato sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.95, for a total value of $113,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 37,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,157,266. The trade was a 5.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Brian Scott Smith sold 556 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.90, for a total value of $27,744.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $718,260.60. This represents a 3.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.36% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HNI

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HNI. Ritholtz Wealth Management purchased a new stake in HNI in the 4th quarter valued at about $876,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in HNI by 1.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,876,542 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $101,033,000 after purchasing an additional 20,717 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in HNI by 54.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 136,923 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,372,000 after purchasing an additional 48,237 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in HNI during the third quarter worth approximately $2,245,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of HNI by 4,746.7% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,181 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 2,136 shares during the last quarter. 75.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.