StockNews.com Lowers HNI (NYSE:HNI) to Buy

HNI (NYSE:HNI) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Separately, Benchmark upped their price target on HNI from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th.

HNI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HNI traded down $0.63 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $49.70. 217,232 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 253,902. HNI has a 1 year low of $27.92 and a 1 year high of $56.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.20. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $47.16 and a 200 day moving average of $44.69.

HNI (NYSE:HNI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The business services provider reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during 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, analysts forecast that HNI will post 3.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Steven M. Bradford sold 5,976 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.15, for a total transaction of $317,624.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 61,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,276,272.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, VP Steven M. Bradford sold 5,976 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.15, for a total transaction of $317,624.40. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 61,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,276,272.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Donna D. Meade sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.97, for a total value of $459,700.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 32,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,485,198.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 46,080 shares of company stock worth $2,224,126 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HNI. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in HNI by 184.7% during the first quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 102,330 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,618,000 after acquiring an additional 66,387 shares in the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its stake in shares of HNI by 1.4% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 40,765 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,840,000 after acquiring an additional 544 shares during the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt acquired a new stake in shares of HNI in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,347,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of HNI by 30.4% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 47,936 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,163,000 after acquiring an additional 11,168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oxford Financial Group LTD. LLC boosted its stake in HNI by 58.0% during the fourth quarter. Oxford Financial Group LTD. LLC now owns 51,867 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,170,000 after buying an additional 19,032 shares during the last quarter. 75.26% of the stock is currently 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.