HNI (NYSE:HNI) Now Covered by Longbow Research

Longbow Research started coverage on shares of HNI (NYSE:HNI) in a research note released on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $70.00 price objective on the business services provider’s stock.

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of HNI from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday.

HNI Price Performance

Shares of HNI stock opened at $47.94 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.23 billion, a PE ratio of 16.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.91. HNI has a 12-month low of $39.76 and a 12-month high of $58.42. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.46.

HNI (NYSE:HNI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The business services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $599.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $580.47 million. HNI had a net margin of 5.52% and a return on equity of 18.27%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.37 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that HNI will post 3.6 EPS for the current year.

HNI Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This is a positive change from HNI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. HNI’s payout ratio is presently 46.98%.

Insider Activity at HNI

In related news, insider Brian Scott Smith sold 556 shares of HNI stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.90, for a total transaction of $27,744.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $718,260.60. This trade represents a 3.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new position in HNI during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in HNI by 85.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 561 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in HNI by 88.5% during the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 705 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in HNI by 649.1% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 809 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 701 shares during the period. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in HNI during the 4th quarter valued at about $55,000. 75.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.