Xponance Inc. Purchases New Stake in HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI)

Xponance Inc. acquired a new position in HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 4,937 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $249,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HNI. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of HNI by 85.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 561 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Vestcor Inc bought a new position in HNI in the fourth quarter worth about $176,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in HNI in the third quarter valued at approximately $181,000. Longboard Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of HNI during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new stake in shares of HNI during the 4th quarter worth approximately $224,000. Institutional investors own 75.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Brian Scott Smith sold 556 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.90, for a total transaction of $27,744.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 14,394 shares in the company, valued at $718,260.60. This trade represents a 3.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

HNI Stock Down 1.7 %

HNI stock opened at $44.69 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.81. The stock has a market cap of $2.10 billion, a PE ratio of 15.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.90. HNI Co. has a fifty-two week low of $40.94 and a fifty-two week high of $58.42.

HNI (NYSE:HNI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $642.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $657.03 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that HNI Co. will post 3.6 EPS for the current year.

HNI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.95%. HNI’s payout ratio is 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.