Legal & General Group Plc Sells 458 Shares of HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI)

Legal & General Group Plc cut its position in shares of HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 130,998 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 458 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in HNI were worth $6,598,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ritholtz Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of HNI in the 4th quarter worth about $876,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of HNI by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,718,014 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $288,016,000 after purchasing an additional 62,476 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of HNI by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 250,181 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,602,000 after purchasing an additional 11,716 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of HNI by 54.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 136,923 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,372,000 after purchasing an additional 48,237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of HNI by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 628,272 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,646,000 after buying an additional 105,034 shares during the last quarter. 75.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HNI Stock Performance

Shares of HNI stock opened at $41.15 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.24, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.68. HNI Co. has a 1 year low of $39.76 and a 1 year high of $58.42. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $44.62 and its 200 day moving average is $49.63.

HNI (NYSE:HNI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $642.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $657.03 million. HNI had a net margin of 5.52% and a return on equity of 18.27%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that HNI Co. will post 3.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HNI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. HNI’s payout ratio is 45.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Transactions at HNI

In related news, insider Brian Scott Smith sold 556 shares of HNI stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.90, for a total value of $27,744.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $718,260.60. This trade represents a 3.72 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.37% of the company’s stock.

HNI 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.