Hillenbrand (NYSE:HI) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Hillenbrand, Inc. (NYSE:HI)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $25.00, but opened at $25.82. Hillenbrand shares last traded at $25.93, with a volume of 27,476 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Hillenbrand from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th.

Hillenbrand Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The firm has a market cap of $1.84 billion, a PE ratio of -8.33 and a beta of 1.41. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.31.

Hillenbrand (NYSE:HI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.02. Hillenbrand had a positive return on equity of 15.00% and a negative net margin of 7.12%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.69 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Hillenbrand, Inc. will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hillenbrand Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.225 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.44%. Hillenbrand’s payout ratio is presently -28.66%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hillenbrand

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HI. Channing Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Hillenbrand in the 4th quarter worth $20,648,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Hillenbrand during the 3rd quarter valued at about $17,178,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hillenbrand by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,116,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $126,704,000 after purchasing an additional 387,048 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Hillenbrand during the 4th quarter valued at about $7,782,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Hillenbrand by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 900,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,722,000 after purchasing an additional 176,482 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.09% of the company’s stock.

Hillenbrand Company Profile

Hillenbrand, Inc operates as an industrial company in the United States and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Advanced Process Solutions and Molding Technology Solutions. The Advanced Process Solutions segment designs, engineers, manufactures, markets, and services process and material handling equipment and systems comprising compounding, extrusion, and material handling equipment, equipment system design services, as well as offers mixing technology, ingredient automation, and portion process; and provides screening and separating equipment for various industries, including plastics, food and pharmaceuticals, chemicals, fertilizers, minerals, energy, wastewater treatment, forest products, and other general industrials.