HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 823,100 shares, an increase of 13.7% from the October 15th total of 723,900 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 253,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Insider Activity at HNI

In related news, insider Brian Scott Smith sold 2,284 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.00, for a total value of $123,336.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,902 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $642,708. The trade was a 16.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary A. Bell sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.85, for a total value of $259,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 74,401 shares in the company, valued at $3,857,691.85. This trade represents a 6.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,480 shares of company stock valued at $2,041,210 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.36% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HNI

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of HNI by 184.7% in the 1st quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 102,330 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,618,000 after acquiring an additional 66,387 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in HNI by 30.4% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 47,936 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,163,000 after buying an additional 11,168 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in HNI in the 3rd quarter worth about $450,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in HNI by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 25,780 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,161,000 after acquiring an additional 1,004 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in HNI by 5.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 287,735 shares in the last quarter. 75.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on HNI. StockNews.com upgraded HNI from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. 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.

HNI Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE:HNI traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $54.81. The stock had a trading volume of 214,040 shares, compared to its average volume of 255,416. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $52.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $49.60. HNI has a 1-year low of $38.55 and a 1-year high of $57.59. The company has a market capitalization of $2.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

HNI (NYSE:HNI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $672.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $712.75 million. HNI had a net margin of 4.83% and a return on equity of 19.29%. HNI's revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.93 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that HNI will post 2.93 EPS for the current year.

HNI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. HNI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.16%.

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.