Eastern Bank Makes New Investment in HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI)

Eastern Bank bought a new stake in HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 500 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $27,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in HNI. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of HNI by 0.6% during 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 buying an additional 9,901 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of HNI by 3.1% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 565,012 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,437,000 after buying an additional 17,151 shares in the last quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of HNI by 14.6% during the second quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC now owns 291,535 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,125,000 after buying an additional 37,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of HNI by 9.0% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 104,094 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,686,000 after buying an additional 8,619 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.26% of the company’s stock.

HNI Stock Performance

HNI stock opened at $51.66 on Friday. HNI Co. has a 12-month low of $32.70 and a 12-month high of $56.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $52.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.40. The stock has a market cap of $2.44 billion, a PE ratio of 21.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.84.

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

HNI Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. HNI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on HNI. Benchmark lifted their target price on HNI from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com downgraded HNI from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, October 13th.

Insider Transactions at HNI

In other news, Director Miguel M. Calado sold 5,299 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.96, for a total transaction 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 trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Miguel M. Calado sold 5,299 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.96, for a total transaction 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 trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian Scott Smith sold 2,284 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.00, for a total value of $123,336.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,902 shares in the company, valued at approximately $642,708. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 110,582 shares of company stock worth $5,597,281. Insiders own 3.36% of the company’s stock.

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.