Pacer Advisors Inc. Invests $69.25 Million in HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI)

Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,374,881 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $69,253,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned approximately 2.88% of HNI at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of HNI by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,501 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in HNI by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,332 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $395,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of HNI by 51.6% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 670 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of HNI by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 7,942 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $400,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC grew its holdings in shares of HNI by 2.1% in the third quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 13,987 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $753,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. 75.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Activity at HNI

In other HNI news, Director Larry B. Porcellato sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.95, for a total value of $113,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 37,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,157,266. This represents a 5.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

HNI Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of HNI stock opened at $51.14 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $2.44 billion, a PE ratio of 19.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.91. HNI Co. has a 1 year low of $40.22 and a 1 year high of $58.42. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $52.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

HNI (NYSE:HNI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.05. HNI had a return on equity of 19.29% and a net margin of 4.83%. The company had revenue of $672.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $712.75 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.93 earnings per share. HNI’s revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that HNI Co. will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current year.

HNI Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.58%. HNI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.16%.

HNI Profile

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.