HNI (NYSE:HNI) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of HNI (NYSE:HNI) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Saturday.

Separately, Benchmark upped their price target on shares of HNI from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th.

HNI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HNI opened at $53.27 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.47. HNI has a fifty-two week low of $32.70 and a fifty-two week high of $56.13. The company has a market capitalization of $2.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.20.

HNI (NYSE:HNI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The business services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.18. HNI had a return on equity of 19.15% and a net margin of 4.39%. The company had revenue of $623.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $637.74 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.55 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that HNI will post 3.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HNI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Friday, August 23rd were given a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.48%. HNI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 97.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Miguel M. Calado sold 5,299 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.96, for a total transaction of $280,635.04. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 31,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,650,180.64. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other HNI news, CEO Jeffrey D. Lorenger sold 16,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.09, for a total transaction of $873,330.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 296,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,761,996.28. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Miguel M. Calado sold 5,299 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.96, for a total value of $280,635.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 31,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,650,180.64. 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 quarter, insiders sold 134,029 shares of company stock valued at $6,766,593. Corporate insiders own 3.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of HNI

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of HNI by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 8,873 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $371,000 after purchasing an additional 1,397 shares during the period. Intrinsic Edge Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in HNI during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,906,000. Oxford Financial Group LTD. LLC raised its position in HNI by 58.0% in the fourth quarter. Oxford Financial Group LTD. LLC now owns 51,867 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,170,000 after acquiring an additional 19,032 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in HNI in the first quarter worth approximately $245,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of HNI by 86.6% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 35,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,618,000 after acquiring an additional 16,646 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.26% of the company’s stock.

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.