Short Interest in HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI) Rises By 14.6%

HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 893,400 shares, a growth of 14.6% from the June 30th total of 779,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 231,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.9 days.

HNI Trading Up 0.3 %

HNI opened at $54.93 on Wednesday. HNI has a twelve month low of $27.92 and a twelve month high of $55.40. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $46.12 and a 200-day moving average of $44.14. The stock has a market cap of $2.60 billion, a PE ratio of 40.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.86.

HNI (NYSE:HNI) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $623.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $637.74 million. HNI had a net margin of 4.39% and a return on equity of 19.15%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.55 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that HNI will post 3.17 EPS for the current year.

HNI Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th were issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. This is a boost from HNI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 23rd. HNI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 97.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on HNI shares. StockNews.com raised shares of HNI from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. 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.

Insider Buying and Selling at HNI

In other HNI news, VP Steven M. Bradford sold 11,237 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.35, for a total value of $543,308.95. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 61,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,980,390.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP Steven M. Bradford sold 11,237 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.35, for a total transaction of $543,308.95. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 61,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,980,390.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Marshall H. Bridges sold 4,138 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.50, for a total transaction of $221,383.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 78,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,191,511. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 46,080 shares of company stock valued at $2,224,126 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HNI

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in HNI in the second quarter worth $2,189,000. Arjuna Capital lifted its stake in shares of HNI by 1.6% in the second quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 34,851 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,569,000 after buying an additional 534 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of HNI by 6.4% in the second quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 7,249 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $326,000 after buying an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of HNI in the second quarter valued at $2,148,000. Finally, Bailard Inc. bought a new position in shares of HNI during the second quarter valued at about $248,000. 75.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.