HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 823,100 shares, a growth of 13.7% from the October 15th total of 723,900 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 253,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Benchmark boosted their price objective on shares of HNI from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of HNI from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Mary A. Bell sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.85, for a total value of $259,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 74,401 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,857,691.85. This trade represents a 6.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian Scott Smith sold 2,284 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.00, for a total value of $123,336.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,902 shares in the company, valued at approximately $642,708. The trade was a 16.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 38,480 shares of company stock worth $2,041,210. 3.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of HNI by 3.2% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,332 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in HNI by 51.6% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 670 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC increased its stake in shares of HNI by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 13,987 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $753,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of HNI by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 27,150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,222,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the period. Finally, Versor Investments LP boosted its position in shares of HNI by 5.2% in the second quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 8,100 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $365,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.26% of the company’s stock.

HNI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HNI traded up $0.57 during trading on Monday, reaching $55.12. The company had a trading volume of 20,797 shares, compared to its average volume of 254,531. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. HNI has a twelve month low of $38.55 and a twelve month high of $57.59. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $52.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.63 billion, a PE ratio of 21.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.85.

HNI (NYSE:HNI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.05. HNI had a net margin of 4.83% and a return on equity of 19.29%. The firm had revenue of $672.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $712.75 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that HNI will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current year.

HNI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. HNI’s payout ratio is currently 51.16%.

About HNI

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.