Hillenbrand (NYSE:HI) Downgraded to Sell Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Hillenbrand (NYSE:HI) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson lowered Hillenbrand from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Monday, August 12th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Hillenbrand from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.67.

Hillenbrand Stock Performance

HI traded down $1.11 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $32.59. The company had a trading volume of 163,608 shares, compared to its average volume of 389,485. The business has a 50-day moving average of $27.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. Hillenbrand has a 1 year low of $25.11 and a 1 year high of $50.58. The company has a market cap of $2.29 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.90 and a beta of 1.38.

Hillenbrand Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.2225 per share. This represents a $0.89 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.73%. This is a boost from Hillenbrand’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Hillenbrand’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -29.77%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hillenbrand

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Hillenbrand by 3.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,702,418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $437,645,000 after buying an additional 290,275 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Hillenbrand by 13.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,184,077 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,408,000 after acquiring an additional 253,730 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in shares of Hillenbrand during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,368,000. Bernzott Capital Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Hillenbrand by 51.3% in the third quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors now owns 225,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,276,000 after purchasing an additional 76,533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Counselors Inc. increased its position in Hillenbrand by 30.1% in the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 322,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,959,000 after purchasing an additional 74,527 shares during the last quarter. 89.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Hillenbrand

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.