HNI (NYSE:HNI) Lowered to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of HNI (NYSE:HNI) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Friday morning.

Separately, Benchmark upped 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.

HNI Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:HNI opened at $53.89 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market cap of $2.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.92, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.85. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $51.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.17. HNI has a 12-month low of $32.70 and a 12-month high of $56.13.

HNI (NYSE:HNI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The business services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.18. HNI had a net margin of 4.39% and a return on equity of 19.15%. The business had revenue of $623.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $637.74 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.55 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that HNI will post 3.17 EPS for the current year.

HNI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. HNI’s payout ratio is currently 97.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other HNI news, Director Miguel M. Calado sold 5,299 shares of HNI stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.96, for a total transaction of $280,635.04. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,650,180.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other HNI news, Director Miguel M. Calado sold 5,299 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.96, for a total value of $280,635.04. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,650,180.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey D. Lorenger sold 9,447 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.42, for a total value of $504,658.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 296,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,859,970.64. 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. 3.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of HNI

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of HNI by 1.3% in the second quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 27,150 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,222,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP lifted its holdings in HNI by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 8,100 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $365,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its position in HNI by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 7,249 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $326,000 after buying an additional 436 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of HNI by 3.4% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 13,237 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $596,000 after acquiring an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arjuna Capital increased its position in shares of HNI by 1.6% during the second quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 34,851 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,569,000 after acquiring an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.26% of the company’s stock.

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.