Bailard Inc. Purchases New Stake in HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI)

Bailard Inc. acquired a new position in shares of HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 5,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $248,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in HNI in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of HNI during the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. Northwest Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of HNI in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $134,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new stake in HNI during the first quarter worth approximately $202,000. Finally, Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV bought a new position in HNI during the 4th quarter worth $238,000. 75.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

HNI Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of HNI stock opened at $53.38 on Tuesday. HNI Co. has a fifty-two week low of $30.81 and a fifty-two week high of $56.13. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $48.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.62. 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 cap of $2.52 billion, a PE ratio of 39.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.86.

HNI (NYSE:HNI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The business services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $623.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $637.74 million. HNI had a return on equity of 19.15% and a net margin of 4.39%. HNI’s revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that HNI Co. will post 3.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HNI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Friday, August 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 23rd. HNI’s dividend payout ratio is 97.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at HNI

In related news, VP Donna D. Meade sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.97, for a total transaction of $459,700.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 32,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,485,198.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, VP Donna D. Meade sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.97, for a total value of $459,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 32,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,485,198.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Steven M. Bradford sold 11,237 shares of HNI stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.35, for a total transaction of $543,308.95. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 61,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,980,390.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 121,384 shares of company stock worth $5,956,739 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.