HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI) Short Interest Down 43.0% in March

HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 735,800 shares, a drop of 43.0% from the March 15th total of 1,290,000 shares. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 374,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days.

HNI Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:HNI opened at $41.15 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a fifty day moving average of $44.78 and a 200 day moving average of $49.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.78. HNI has a 52 week low of $39.76 and a 52 week high of $58.42.

HNI (NYSE:HNI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.13. HNI had a return on equity of 18.27% and a net margin of 5.52%. The company had revenue of $642.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $657.03 million. On average, research analysts predict that HNI will post 3.6 earnings per share for the current year.

HNI Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. HNI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.67%.

Insider Transactions at HNI

In related news, insider Brian Scott Smith sold 556 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.90, for a total value of $27,744.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 14,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $718,260.60. This represents a 3.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 3.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HNI

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of HNI by 85.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 561 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in HNI by 649.1% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 809 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 701 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of HNI during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of HNI during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $121,000. Finally, Vestcor Inc bought a new stake in shares of HNI in the 4th quarter worth approximately $176,000. Institutional investors own 75.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of HNI from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st.

HNI Company 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.