State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 6,535 Shares of HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lessened its stake in HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI) by 15.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 37,160 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,535 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in HNI were worth $2,001,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in HNI. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 287,735 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in shares of HNI during the 1st quarter valued at $4,267,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of HNI during the 1st quarter valued at $3,987,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of HNI by 184.7% during the 1st quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 102,330 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,618,000 after acquiring an additional 66,387 shares during the period. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of HNI during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,189,000. Institutional investors own 75.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at HNI

In other HNI news, insider Brian Scott Smith sold 2,284 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were 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 $642,708. The trade was a 16.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey D. Lorenger sold 16,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.09, for a total transaction of $873,330.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 296,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,761,996.28. The trade was a 5.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 38,480 shares of company stock worth $2,041,210. 3.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

HNI Stock Down 0.6 %

HNI opened at $54.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.09. HNI Co. has a fifty-two week low of $38.55 and a fifty-two week high of $57.59. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $52.77 and its 200 day moving average is $49.54. The stock has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.85.

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

HNI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. HNI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on HNI. StockNews.com raised shares of HNI from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Benchmark boosted their price objective on shares of HNI from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th.

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.