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 issued to investors on Thursday.

Separately, Benchmark lifted their target price on HNI from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th.

HNI Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of HNI opened at $49.72 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.09. HNI has a 52 week low of $36.72 and a 52 week high of $56.13. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.69.

HNI (NYSE:HNI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $672.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $712.75 million. HNI had a return on equity of 19.29% and a net margin of 4.83%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.93 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that HNI will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current year.

HNI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. HNI’s payout ratio is 51.16%.

Insider Activity at HNI

In other HNI news, insider Brian Scott Smith sold 2,284 shares of HNI stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $642,708. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other HNI news, insider Brian Scott Smith sold 2,284 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.00, for a total transaction of $123,336.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,902 shares in the company, valued at $642,708. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey D. Lorenger sold 72,102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.32, for a total transaction of $3,556,070.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 296,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,642,713.44. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 110,582 shares of company stock worth $5,597,281. Company insiders own 3.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HNI

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of HNI. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of HNI during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in HNI in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in HNI by 51.6% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 670 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of HNI by 219.9% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 739 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.