Hillenbrand (NYSE:HI) Upgraded to Hold by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hillenbrand (NYSE:HI) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Friday.

HI has been the subject of several other reports. KeyCorp started coverage on Hillenbrand in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. They issued an overweight rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. DA Davidson lowered shares of Hillenbrand from a buy rating to a neutral rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Hillenbrand currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $48.00.

Hillenbrand Stock Performance

HI opened at $28.94 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.92 and a beta of 1.44. Hillenbrand has a 1-year low of $28.91 and a 1-year high of $50.58. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Hillenbrand (NYSE:HI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.03. Hillenbrand had a positive return on equity of 14.89% and a negative net margin of 6.67%. The business had revenue of $786.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $818.16 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. Hillenbrand’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Hillenbrand will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hillenbrand Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.2225 per share. This is an increase from Hillenbrand’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.89 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Hillenbrand’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.55%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hillenbrand

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hillenbrand by 58.2% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 712 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in Hillenbrand during the fourth quarter worth approximately $63,000. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in Hillenbrand during the second quarter valued at approximately $90,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hillenbrand in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $93,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hillenbrand in the 1st quarter worth approximately $117,000. 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.