HNI (NYSE:HNI) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

HNI (NYSE:HNI) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Friday.

Separately, Benchmark boosted their price target on HNI from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday.

HNI Stock Performance

NYSE:HNI traded up $0.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $54.51. 563,661 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 252,458. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.29. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.90. HNI has a fifty-two week low of $27.92 and a fifty-two week high of $54.77.

HNI (NYSE:HNI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The business services provider reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.19. HNI had a return on equity of 17.75% and a net margin of 2.57%. The company had revenue of $623.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $637.74 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. HNI’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that HNI will post 3.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Larry B. Porcellato sold 1,796 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total transaction of $82,616.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 39,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,798,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other HNI news, Director Larry B. Porcellato sold 1,796 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total value of $82,616.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 39,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,798,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Donna D. Meade sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.97, for a total value of $459,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 32,308 shares in the company, valued at $1,485,198.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,966 shares of company stock worth $1,685,119 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in HNI by 184.7% during the 1st quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 102,330 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,618,000 after buying an additional 66,387 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its stake in HNI by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 40,765 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,840,000 after buying an additional 544 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt acquired a new position in HNI during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,347,000. Oxford Financial Group LTD. LLC raised its stake in shares of HNI by 58.0% in the fourth quarter. Oxford Financial Group LTD. LLC now owns 51,867 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,170,000 after purchasing an additional 19,032 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of HNI by 86.6% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 35,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,618,000 after purchasing an additional 16,646 shares during the last quarter. 75.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.