Short Interest in HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI) Declines By 6.5%

HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 863,600 shares, a decline of 6.5% from the November 15th total of 923,900 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 280,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of HNI from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st.

HNI Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of HNI opened at $53.26 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.88. HNI has a fifty-two week low of $39.95 and a fifty-two week high of $58.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.09. The business has a 50-day moving average of $54.25 and a 200 day moving average of $51.14.

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

HNI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. HNI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at HNI

In other HNI news, insider Brian Scott Smith sold 2,284 shares of the firm’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $642,708. This trade represents a 16.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Larry B. Porcellato sold 2,000 shares of HNI stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.95, for a total transaction of $113,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 37,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,157,266. This trade represents a 5.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HNI

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of HNI by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,876,542 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $101,033,000 after buying an additional 20,717 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of HNI by 275.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,836,205 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $98,861,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346,999 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of HNI by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,625,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $73,180,000 after purchasing an additional 9,901 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in HNI by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,084,830 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $58,419,000 after buying an additional 7,553 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in HNI by 3.1% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 565,012 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,437,000 after buying an additional 17,151 shares in the last quarter. 75.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.