Short Interest in Hillenbrand, Inc. (NYSE:HI) Increases By 6.5%

Hillenbrand, Inc. (NYSE:HI) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,140,000 shares, a growth of 6.5% from the September 30th total of 2,010,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 500,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.3 days. Currently, 3.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Hillenbrand Price Performance

HI traded up $0.37 during trading on Friday, hitting $27.92. 119,036 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 386,251. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.45. Hillenbrand has a 1 year low of $25.11 and a 1 year high of $50.58. The company has a market cap of $1.96 billion, a PE ratio of -9.37 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44.

Hillenbrand (NYSE:HI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $786.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $818.16 million. Hillenbrand had a negative net margin of 6.67% and a positive return on equity of 14.89%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hillenbrand will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hillenbrand Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.2225 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $0.89 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. This is a positive change from Hillenbrand’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Hillenbrand’s dividend payout ratio is currently -30.27%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hillenbrand by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,702,418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $437,645,000 after buying an additional 290,275 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Hillenbrand by 13.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,184,077 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,408,000 after buying an additional 253,730 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Hillenbrand by 2.7% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 834,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,384,000 after purchasing an additional 21,986 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in shares of Hillenbrand by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 392,196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,696,000 after buying an additional 16,323 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Counselors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hillenbrand by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 247,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,914,000 after purchasing an additional 3,651 shares during the period. 89.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. KeyCorp initiated coverage on Hillenbrand in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. DA Davidson downgraded Hillenbrand from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Hillenbrand from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.00.

Hillenbrand Company Profile

Hillenbrand, Inc operates as an industrial company in the United States and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Advanced Process Solutions and Molding Technology Solutions. The Advanced Process Solutions segment designs, engineers, manufactures, markets, and services process and material handling equipment and systems comprising compounding, extrusion, and material handling equipment, equipment system design services, as well as offers mixing technology, ingredient automation, and portion process; and provides screening and separating equipment for various industries, including plastics, food and pharmaceuticals, chemicals, fertilizers, minerals, energy, wastewater treatment, forest products, and other general industrials.