Natixis Advisors LLC Invests $745,000 in HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI)

Natixis Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 14,800 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $745,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in HNI by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,501 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $227,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of HNI by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 7,942 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in HNI by 85.1% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 561 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in HNI by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 27,168 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,368,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its position in HNI by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 23,100 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,164,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at HNI

In related news, insider Brian Scott Smith sold 556 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.90, for a total transaction of $27,744.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,394 shares in the company, valued at $718,260.60. The trade was a 3.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 3.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com lowered HNI from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st.

HNI Price Performance

Shares of HNI opened at $44.22 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.08 billion, a PE ratio of 15.30, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $47.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.10. HNI Co. has a fifty-two week low of $40.94 and a fifty-two week high of $58.42.

HNI (NYSE:HNI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $642.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $657.03 million. HNI had a return on equity of 18.27% and a net margin of 5.52%. Equities analysts predict that HNI Co. will post 3.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HNI Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. HNI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.67%.

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.