HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI) Short Interest Update

HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 863,600 shares, a decline of 6.5% from the November 15th total of 923,900 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 280,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of HNI from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st.

HNI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HNI traded down $1.12 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $53.02. The company had a trading volume of 202,061 shares, compared to its average volume of 256,939. HNI has a 52 week low of $39.95 and a 52 week high of $58.42. The stock has a market cap of $2.53 billion, a PE ratio of 20.98, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.09. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $54.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.14.

HNI (NYSE:HNI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $672.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $712.75 million. HNI had a net margin of 4.83% and a return on equity of 19.29%. The company’s revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. Analysts expect that HNI will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current year.

HNI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. HNI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at HNI

In other HNI news, insider Brian Scott Smith sold 2,284 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.00, for a total value of $123,336.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,902 shares in the company, valued at $642,708. The trade was a 16.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Larry B. Porcellato sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.95, for a total transaction of $113,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 37,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,157,266. This represents a 5.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HNI

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in HNI by 60.6% in the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 3,285 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments bought a new stake in HNI in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,114,000. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC increased its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in HNI by 3.0% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 23,800 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,071,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in HNI by 3.1% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 565,012 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,437,000 after purchasing an additional 17,151 shares in the last quarter. 75.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

HNI Company 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.