Hillenbrand (NYSE:HI) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Shares of Hillenbrand, Inc. (NYSE:HI) gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $33.33, but opened at $34.24. Hillenbrand shares last traded at $33.62, with a volume of 31,871 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on HI shares. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Hillenbrand from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $33.00 price target on shares of Hillenbrand in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Hillenbrand from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th.

Hillenbrand Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.34. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $32.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.51.

Hillenbrand (NYSE:HI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.56 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.69 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Hillenbrand, Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Hillenbrand Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.225 per share. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. This is a positive change from Hillenbrand’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Hillenbrand’s dividend payout ratio is presently -28.66%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HI. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its position in shares of Hillenbrand by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 81,523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,509,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Hillenbrand during the 4th quarter worth $324,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd grew its stake in shares of Hillenbrand by 69.4% during the fourth quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 17,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $534,000 after purchasing an additional 7,100 shares in the last quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Hillenbrand in the fourth quarter valued at $4,075,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Hillenbrand by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 407,197 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,534,000 after buying an additional 52,603 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.09% of the company’s stock.

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.