Alliancebernstein L.P. Purchases 3,200 Shares of HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI)

Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,606 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,200 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 0.12% of HNI worth $2,801,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in HNI by 85.1% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 561 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in HNI during the 4th quarter worth $121,000. Vestcor Inc acquired a new position in HNI during the 4th quarter valued at about $176,000. Longboard Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in HNI in the fourth quarter valued at about $213,000. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new stake in HNI in the fourth quarter worth about $224,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of HNI from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st.

HNI Price Performance

NYSE HNI opened at $41.76 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $45.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.94. HNI Co. has a 1 year low of $39.76 and a 1 year high of $58.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The company has a market cap of $1.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.45, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.78.

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

HNI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. HNI’s payout ratio is 45.67%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Brian Scott Smith sold 556 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.90, for a total transaction of $27,744.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,394 shares in the company, valued at $718,260.60. The trade was a 3.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.37% of the company’s stock.

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.