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

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

HNI Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of HNI opened at $49.63 on Thursday. HNI has a 12 month low of $33.26 and a 12 month high of $56.13. The stock has a market cap of $2.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $52.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

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

HNI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.66%. HNI’s dividend payout ratio is 97.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Brian Scott Smith sold 2,284 shares of HNI stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.00, for a total value of $123,336.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,902 shares in the company, valued at approximately $642,708. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Brian Scott Smith sold 2,284 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.00, for a total value of $123,336.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,902 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary A. Bell sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.85, for a total transaction of $259,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 110,582 shares of company stock valued at $5,597,281 in the last quarter. Insiders own 3.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HNI. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in HNI by 4,746.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of HNI by 60.0% in the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,936 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $750,000 after buying an additional 5,226 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in HNI during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Inspire Advisors LLC lifted its position in HNI by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 33,526 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,805,000 after buying an additional 870 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in HNI during the 3rd quarter worth about $349,000. Institutional investors own 75.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HNI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Benchmark lifted their price objective on HNI from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com lowered shares of HNI from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, October 13th.

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.