Short Interest in HNI Corporation (NYSE:HNI) Drops 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 trading volume, of 1,372,926 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days. Currently, 6.4% of the company’s shares are short sold. Currently, 6.4% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,372,926 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days.

HNI Stock Performance

HNI stock traded down $0.02 on Friday, hitting $42.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 320,044 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,165,652. HNI has a 1 year low of $38.03 and a 1 year high of $53.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock has a market cap 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. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $41.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.16.

HNI (NYSE:HNI) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $683.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $688.64 million. HNI had a return on equity of 20.33% and a net margin of 5.46%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that HNI will post 3.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HNI Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HNI

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cooke & Bieler LP acquired a new position in shares of HNI during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,744,000. Millennium Management LLC bought a new position in HNI in the 1st quarter worth about $10,666,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in HNI by 196,733.6% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 234,232 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,388,000 after acquiring an additional 234,113 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HNI in the 1st quarter worth approximately $10,301,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in HNI by 7.3% during the first 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 buying an additional 9,730 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.