Arizona State Retirement System Reduces Holdings in Hillenbrand, Inc. (NYSE:HI)

Arizona State Retirement System trimmed its stake in Hillenbrand, Inc. (NYSE:HI) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 19,544 shares of the company’s stock after selling 265 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Hillenbrand were worth $935,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC increased its stake in shares of Hillenbrand by 96.9% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 8,679 shares of the company’s stock worth $383,000 after acquiring an additional 4,272 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hillenbrand by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 70,026 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,093,000 after acquiring an additional 3,131 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its stake in shares of Hillenbrand by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 11,557 shares of the company’s stock worth $510,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Hillenbrand by 54.0% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 38,584 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,704,000 after acquiring an additional 13,527 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of Hillenbrand by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 193,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,550,000 after acquiring an additional 6,834 shares in the last quarter. 89.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hillenbrand Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE:HI opened at $46.97 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.28. Hillenbrand, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.19 and a fifty-two week high of $53.76. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.30.

Hillenbrand (NYSE:HI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $773.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $776.40 million. Hillenbrand had a net margin of 18.39% and a return on equity of 14.65%. Analysts predict that Hillenbrand, Inc. will post 3.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hillenbrand Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.222 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.89 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. Hillenbrand’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, CL King began coverage on shares of Hillenbrand in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. They set a “strong-buy” rating and a $61.00 price objective for the company.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hillenbrand

In related news, CFO Robert M. Vanhimbergen purchased 11,319 shares of Hillenbrand stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $45.23 per share, for a total transaction of $511,958.37. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 34,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,563,103.57. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Robert M. Vanhimbergen purchased 11,319 shares of Hillenbrand stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $45.23 per share, for a total transaction of $511,958.37. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 34,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,563,103.57. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Nicholas R. Farrell sold 8,542 shares of Hillenbrand stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.02, for a total transaction of $401,644.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 41,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,972,536.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Hillenbrand

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.