HNI (NYSE:HNI) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

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

Separately, Benchmark raised their price objective on HNI from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th.

HNI Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of HNI opened at $53.27 on Friday. HNI has a 1-year low of $32.70 and a 1-year high of $56.13. The company has a market capitalization of $2.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $52.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.49.

HNI (NYSE:HNI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The business services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $623.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $637.74 million. HNI had a net margin of 4.39% and a return on equity of 19.15%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.55 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that HNI will post 3.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jeffrey D. Lorenger sold 72,102 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.32, for a total transaction of $3,556,070.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 296,892 shares in the company, valued at $14,642,713.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other HNI news, CEO Jeffrey D. Lorenger sold 72,102 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.32, for a total transaction of $3,556,070.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 296,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,642,713.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Steven M. Bradford sold 2,380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total transaction of $114,311.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 61,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,960,665.26. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 134,029 shares of company stock valued at $6,766,593. 3.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HNI

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. waypoint wealth counsel purchased a new stake in HNI in the third quarter worth $298,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HNI in the 3rd quarter worth about $450,000. Clifford Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of HNI by 14.6% in the 2nd quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC now owns 291,535 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,125,000 after acquiring an additional 37,155 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in HNI by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 25,780 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,161,000 after acquiring an additional 1,004 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in HNI by 129.0% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 15,002 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $675,000 after acquiring an additional 8,452 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.26% of the company’s stock.

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.