HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 723,900 shares, a growth of 15.3% from the September 30th total of 627,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 242,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.0 days.

HNI Trading Up 0.1 %

HNI traded up $0.06 during trading on Thursday, reaching $49.69. The company had a trading volume of 17,654 shares, compared to its average volume of 247,218. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.20. The company has a market cap of $2.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.76, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.84. HNI has a 12-month low of $33.26 and a 12-month high of $56.13.

HNI (NYSE:HNI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.06. HNI had a return on equity of 19.15% and a net margin of 4.39%. The company had revenue of $672.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $712.75 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.93 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that HNI will post 3.17 earnings per share for the current year.

HNI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. HNI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 97.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of HNI from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, October 13th. Benchmark raised their target price on shares of HNI from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th.

Insider Transactions at HNI

In other HNI news, insider Brian Scott Smith sold 2,284 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.00, for a total value of $123,336.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $642,708. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other HNI news, Director Mary A. Bell sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.85, for a total transaction of $259,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 74,401 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,857,691.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian Scott Smith sold 2,284 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.00, for a total value of $123,336.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $642,708. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 110,582 shares of company stock valued at $5,597,281. Insiders own 3.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HNI

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in HNI by 5.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,566,311 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $251,208,000 after buying an additional 287,735 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in HNI in the 1st quarter worth approximately $4,267,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in HNI in the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,987,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in HNI by 184.7% during the first quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 102,330 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,618,000 after purchasing an additional 66,387 shares during the period. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of HNI in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,623,000. 75.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.