ProShare Advisors LLC Sells 27,991 Shares of HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI)

ProShare Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI) by 15.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 150,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 27,991 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC owned about 0.32% of HNI worth $6,778,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of HNI in the 4th quarter worth $13,368,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in HNI by 5.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,566,311 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $251,208,000 after acquiring an additional 287,735 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in HNI during the first quarter valued at approximately $4,267,000. Intrinsic Edge Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of HNI in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,906,000. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of HNI in the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,987,000. 75.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HNI Price Performance

Shares of HNI stock opened at $52.66 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The company has a market capitalization of $2.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.85. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $46.96. HNI Co. has a one year low of $32.70 and a one year high of $56.13.

HNI (NYSE:HNI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The business services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $623.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $637.74 million. HNI had a return on equity of 19.15% and a net margin of 4.39%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.55 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that HNI Co. will post 3.17 EPS for the current year.

HNI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. HNI’s payout ratio is 97.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at HNI

In other news, CFO Marshall H. Bridges sold 4,138 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.50, for a total transaction of $221,383.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 78,346 shares in the company, valued at $4,191,511. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Marshall H. Bridges sold 4,138 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.50, for a total transaction of $221,383.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 78,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,191,511. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey D. Lorenger sold 9,447 shares of HNI stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.42, for a total value of $504,658.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 296,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,859,970.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 134,029 shares of company stock valued at $6,766,593. Company insiders own 3.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on HNI shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of HNI from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Benchmark increased their price objective on shares of HNI from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th.

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.