HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI) Short Interest Update

HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 823,100 shares, an increase of 13.7% from the October 15th total of 723,900 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 253,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Insider Transactions at HNI

In other HNI news, Director Miguel M. Calado sold 5,299 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.96, for a total transaction of $280,635.04. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,650,180.64. This represents a 14.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Mary A. Bell sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.85, for a total transaction of $259,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 74,401 shares in the company, valued at $3,857,691.85. This represents a 6.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,480 shares of company stock worth $2,041,210 over the last ninety days. 3.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HNI

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC grew its holdings in HNI by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,332 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in HNI by 51.6% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 670 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC grew its holdings in HNI by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 13,987 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $753,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in HNI by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 27,150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,222,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versor Investments LP grew its holdings in HNI by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 8,100 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $365,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. 75.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

HNI Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of HNI traded down $0.07 on Monday, hitting $54.81. 7,012 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 254,488. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.85. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $52.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.60. HNI has a 1 year low of $38.55 and a 1 year high of $57.59.

HNI (NYSE:HNI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $672.20 million for 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 quarterly revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that HNI will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current year.

HNI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. HNI’s payout ratio is 51.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Benchmark increased their price target on shares of HNI from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of HNI from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st.

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.