Schroder Investment Management Group Decreases Position in HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI)

Schroder Investment Management Group reduced its stake in HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI) by 9.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,727 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,141 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group owned 0.13% of HNI worth $3,048,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HNI. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of HNI by 85.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 561 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Vestcor Inc acquired a new position in HNI in the fourth quarter valued at $176,000. Longboard Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of HNI during the fourth quarter worth about $213,000. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new position in shares of HNI during the fourth quarter worth about $224,000. Finally, Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of HNI by 5.1% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. 75.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at HNI

In related news, insider Brian Scott Smith sold 556 shares of HNI stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.90, for a total value of $27,744.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,394 shares in the company, valued at $718,260.60. This trade represents a 3.72 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded HNI from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st.

HNI Stock Performance

Shares of HNI stock opened at $42.17 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.59, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $46.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.68. HNI Co. has a 12 month low of $40.78 and a 12 month high of $58.42.

HNI (NYSE:HNI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.13. HNI had a net margin of 5.52% and a return on equity of 18.27%. The business had revenue of $642.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $657.03 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that HNI Co. will post 3.6 earnings per share for the current year.

HNI Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.13%. HNI’s payout ratio is 45.67%.

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.