Short Interest in HNI Corporation (NYSE:HNI) Decreases By 53.9%

HNI Corporation (NYSE:HNI) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totaling 2,827,875 shares, a drop of 53.9% from the November 30th total of 6,139,043 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,372,926 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days. Currently, 6.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Currently, 6.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,372,926 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on HNI shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded HNI from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of HNI in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of HNI in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.00.

HNI Stock Performance

NYSE:HNI traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $42.31. 320,044 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,171,264. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.93. HNI has a fifty-two week low of $38.03 and a fifty-two week high of $53.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.33.

HNI (NYSE:HNI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.03. HNI had a return on equity of 20.33% and a net margin of 5.46%.The firm had revenue of $683.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $688.64 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that HNI will post 3.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HNI Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 17th. HNI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.64%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cooke & Bieler LP acquired a new stake in HNI during the third quarter worth about $28,744,000. Millennium Management LLC bought a new position in HNI in the first quarter valued at approximately $10,666,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in HNI by 196,733.6% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 234,232 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,388,000 after purchasing an additional 234,113 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new stake in HNI during the first quarter worth $10,301,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of HNI by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 142,290 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,311,000 after purchasing an additional 9,730 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.26% of the company’s stock.

HNI Company Profile

HNI Corporation, founded in 1944 as the Heating & Novelty Company and headquartered in Muscatine, Iowa, is a leading manufacturer of office furniture and hearth products. Over its history, the company has evolved from producing gas heaters into two primary business segments: Office Furniture and Hearth & Home. HNI’s Office Furniture division operates under well-known brands such as The HON Company, Allsteel, Gunlocke and Kimball, offering a comprehensive portfolio of workstations, seating, tables, storage solutions and acoustic products tailored for corporate, education, healthcare and government markets.

In its Hearth & Home segment, HNI designs, manufactures and distributes fireplaces, stoves, fireplace inserts, logs and related accessories.