HNI (NYSE:HNI) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Buy

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

HNI Stock Performance

NYSE HNI opened at $46.72 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $49.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The company has a market capitalization of $2.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.11, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.90. HNI has a 1-year low of $40.94 and a 1-year 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.13. HNI had a return on equity of 19.29% and a net margin of 4.83%. The business had revenue of $642.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $657.03 million. Sell-side analysts expect that HNI will post 2.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HNI Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th will be issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. HNI’s payout ratio is currently 51.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Larry B. Porcellato sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.95, for a total transaction of $113,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian Scott Smith sold 556 shares of the company’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $718,260.60. The trade was a 3.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HNI

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Planning purchased a new position in HNI in the 3rd quarter valued at about $454,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of HNI in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in HNI by 60.0% in the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,936 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $750,000 after purchasing an additional 5,226 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in HNI by 4,746.7% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,181 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 2,136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in HNI by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 238,465 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,839,000 after purchasing an additional 4,358 shares during the last quarter. 75.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.