Sapient Capital LLC Makes New Investment in HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI)

Sapient Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 60,125 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,515,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in HNI in the third quarter worth about $56,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in shares of HNI in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $207,000. OLD National Bancorp IN bought a new stake in shares of HNI in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $223,000. Carlson Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of HNI during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $228,000. Finally, Equitable Trust Co. bought a new position in HNI during the third quarter worth $238,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Benchmark boosted their target price on shares of HNI from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of HNI from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 8th.

HNI Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of HNI stock opened at $44.19 on Friday. HNI Co. has a twelve month low of $24.81 and a twelve month high of $45.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.73, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.10.

HNI (NYSE:HNI) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $588.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $574.56 million. HNI had a return on equity of 17.75% and a net margin of 2.57%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.13 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that HNI Co. will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current year.

HNI Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. HNI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling at HNI

In other news, Director Larry B. Porcellato sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.00, for a total transaction of $88,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 40,718 shares in the company, valued at $1,791,592. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other HNI news, Director Miguel M. Calado sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.99, for a total transaction of $107,475.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 36,988 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,590,114.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Larry B. Porcellato sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.00, for a total transaction of $88,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 40,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,791,592. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 17,374 shares of company stock worth $749,534. 3.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.