HNI (NYSE:HNI) Sets New 1-Year High - Here's Why

HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $56.37 and last traded at $56.25, with a volume of 10655 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $54.84.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on HNI. Benchmark upped their price target on shares of HNI from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of HNI from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st.

HNI Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The company's 50-day moving average price is $52.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.23. The company has a market capitalization of $2.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.94, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.85.

HNI (NYSE:HNI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.05. HNI had a net margin of 4.83% and a return on equity of 19.29%. The company had revenue of $672.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $712.75 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.93 earnings per share. HNI's revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that HNI Co. will post 2.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HNI Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. HNI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.16%.

Insider Transactions at HNI

In related news, CEO Jeffrey D. Lorenger sold 16,450 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.09, for a total transaction of $873,330.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 296,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,761,996.28. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other HNI news, insider Brian Scott Smith sold 2,284 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.00, for a total value of $123,336.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,902 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $642,708. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey D. Lorenger sold 16,450 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.09, for a total transaction of $873,330.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 296,892 shares in the company, valued at $15,761,996.28. This trade represents a 0.00 % 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 worth $2,041,210 over the last three months. 3.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HNI. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of HNI by 5.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,566,311 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $251,208,000 after purchasing an additional 287,735 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position 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 valued at $73,180,000 after purchasing an additional 9,901 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position 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 valued at $25,437,000 after purchasing an additional 17,151 shares in the last quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $13,125,000 after purchasing an additional 37,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of HNI by 1.9% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 238,465 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $12,839,000 after purchasing an additional 4,358 shares in the last quarter. 75.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.