Hillenbrand (NYSE:HI) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Hillenbrand, Inc. (NYSE:HI)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $25.00, but opened at $25.82. Hillenbrand shares last traded at $25.93, with a volume of 27,476 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com cut Hillenbrand from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th.

Hillenbrand Stock Up 4.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company has a market capitalization of $1.83 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.28 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a 50 day moving average of $31.40 and a 200-day moving average of $30.37.

Hillenbrand (NYSE:HI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.02. Hillenbrand had a positive return on equity of 15.00% and a negative net margin of 7.12%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.69 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Hillenbrand, Inc. will post 2.53 EPS for the current year.

Hillenbrand Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.225 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.46%. Hillenbrand’s payout ratio is presently -28.66%.

Institutional Trading of Hillenbrand

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Hillenbrand during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in Hillenbrand during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Hillenbrand by 107.5% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Hillenbrand during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Hillenbrand by 712.8% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,333 shares in the last quarter. 89.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Hillenbrand

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.