Pacer Advisors Inc. Takes $69.25 Million Position in HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI)

Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,374,881 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $69,253,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned about 2.88% of HNI at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of HNI. State Street Corp raised its position in HNI by 1.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,876,542 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $101,033,000 after purchasing an additional 20,717 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management purchased a new stake in HNI during the 4th quarter valued at $876,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in HNI in the third quarter worth $450,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in HNI by 54.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 136,923 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $7,372,000 after acquiring an additional 48,237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of HNI by 4.1% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 25,780 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,161,000 after acquiring an additional 1,004 shares during the period. 75.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of HNI from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Larry B. Porcellato sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.95, for a total value of $113,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 37,880 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,157,266. The trade was a 5.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 3.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

HNI Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE HNI traded down $0.64 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $50.57. The company's stock had a trading volume of 153,963 shares, compared to its average volume of 303,510. The business's 50 day moving average is $52.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.30. HNI Co. has a 12-month low of $40.22 and a 12-month high of $58.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.91.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $672.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $712.75 million. HNI had a net margin of 4.83% and a return on equity of 19.29%. The business's revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that HNI Co. will post 2.93 EPS for the current year.

HNI Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. HNI's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.