HNI (NYSE:HNI) Cut to “Buy” at StockNews.com

HNI (NYSE:HNI) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Friday.

Separately, Benchmark upped their price objective on HNI from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th.

HNI Price Performance

Shares of HNI stock traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $52.56. The company had a trading volume of 168,405 shares, compared to its average volume of 249,896. HNI has a 12-month low of $32.70 and a 12-month high of $56.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.20. The company has a market capitalization of $2.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.93, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $51.95 and a 200-day moving average of $47.10.

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

Insider Activity at HNI

In related news, Director Miguel M. Calado sold 5,299 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.96, for a total value of $280,635.04. Following the sale, the director now owns 31,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,650,180.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other HNI news, CEO Jeffrey D. Lorenger sold 72,102 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.32, for a total value of $3,556,070.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 296,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,642,713.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Miguel M. Calado sold 5,299 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.96, for a total value of $280,635.04. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 31,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,650,180.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 134,029 shares of company stock worth $6,766,593. Insiders own 3.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of HNI by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,566,311 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $251,208,000 after buying an additional 287,735 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in HNI by 0.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,625,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $73,180,000 after acquiring an additional 9,901 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in HNI by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 565,012 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,437,000 after acquiring an additional 17,151 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of HNI in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $13,368,000. Finally, Clifford Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of HNI by 14.6% in the 2nd quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC now owns 291,535 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,125,000 after purchasing an additional 37,155 shares in the last quarter. 75.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.