Bailard Inc. Acquires New Position in HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI)

Bailard Inc. bought a new stake in HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 5,500 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $248,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in HNI. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in HNI by 5.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,566,311 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $251,208,000 after purchasing an additional 287,735 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of HNI by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,578,570 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $66,032,000 after purchasing an additional 29,139 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of HNI by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,237,003 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $51,744,000 after buying an additional 206,419 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in 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 buying an additional 17,151 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in HNI during the fourth quarter worth about $13,368,000. 75.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jeffrey D. Lorenger sold 16,450 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.09, for a total value of $873,330.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 296,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,761,996.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other HNI news, 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 value of $873,330.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 296,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,761,996.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Donna D. Meade sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.97, for a total transaction of $459,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 32,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,485,198.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 147,281 shares of company stock worth $7,334,728 in the last quarter. 3.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

HNI Price Performance

NYSE:HNI traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $53.25. 155,994 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 248,799. HNI Co. has a 52 week low of $30.81 and a 52 week high of $56.13. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $48.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.62. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.86.

HNI (NYSE:HNI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The business services provider reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.18. HNI had a net margin of 4.39% and a return on equity of 19.15%. The firm had revenue of $623.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $637.74 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that HNI Co. will post 3.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HNI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Friday, August 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.48%. HNI's dividend payout ratio is 97.78%.

HNI 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.