HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI) Short Interest Update

HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 735,800 shares, a drop of 43.0% from the March 15th total of 1,290,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 374,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days. Approximately 1.6% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com lowered HNI from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Brian Scott Smith sold 556 shares of HNI stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.90, for a total value of $27,744.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 14,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $718,260.60. The trade was a 3.72 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 3.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HNI

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in HNI by 64.0% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 72,922 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,926,000 after purchasing an additional 28,459 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC bought a new position in shares of HNI in the third quarter worth $281,000. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of HNI by 216.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 93,131 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,015,000 after buying an additional 63,724 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in HNI by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,084,830 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $58,419,000 after buying an additional 7,553 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in HNI by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 238,465 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,839,000 after acquiring an additional 4,358 shares during the last quarter. 75.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

HNI Stock Performance

Shares of HNI stock opened at $41.15 on Friday. HNI has a 12 month low of $39.76 and a 12 month high of $58.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.24, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $44.78 and its 200 day moving average is $49.74.

HNI (NYSE:HNI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.13. HNI had a return on equity of 18.27% and a net margin of 5.52%. The firm had revenue of $642.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $657.03 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that HNI will post 3.6 earnings per share for the current year.

HNI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. HNI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.67%.

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.