HNI (NYSE:HNI) Given New $63.00 Price Target at Benchmark

HNI (NYSE:HNI) had its target price boosted by Benchmark from $57.00 to $63.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the business services provider’s stock.

HNI Price Performance

HNI stock opened at $54.51 on Friday. HNI has a 52-week low of $27.92 and a 52-week high of $54.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $45.93 and its 200 day moving average is $43.99. The company has a market cap of $2.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.38, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.86.

HNI (NYSE:HNI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The business services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $623.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $637.74 million. HNI had a net margin of 4.39% and a return on equity of 19.15%. The business’s revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.55 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that HNI will post 3.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HNI Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 24th were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 23rd. This is a positive change from HNI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. HNI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 97.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other HNI news, VP Donna D. Meade sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.97, for a total transaction of $459,700.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 32,308 shares in the company, valued at $1,485,198.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other HNI news, VP Steven M. Bradford sold 11,237 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.35, for a total value of $543,308.95. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 61,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,980,390.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Donna D. Meade sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.97, for a total value of $459,700.00. Following the transaction, 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 sold a total of 35,966 shares of company stock worth $1,685,119 over the last three months. 3.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HNI

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in HNI in the fourth quarter worth $13,368,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in HNI by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,566,311 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $251,208,000 after buying an additional 287,735 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in HNI by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,237,003 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $51,744,000 after buying an additional 206,419 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in HNI in the 1st quarter valued at about $4,267,000. Finally, Intrinsic Edge Capital Management LLC bought a new position in HNI in the 4th quarter worth about $3,906,000. 75.26% of the stock is 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.