Marshall Wace LLP Lowers Holdings in HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI)

Marshall Wace LLP lowered its position in shares of HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI) by 66.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,901 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 17,534 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in HNI were worth $448,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HNI. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of HNI by 85.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 561 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of HNI by 649.1% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 809 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 701 shares during the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of HNI in the 4th quarter valued at about $55,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of HNI in the 4th quarter worth approximately $121,000. Finally, Vestcor Inc bought a new position in shares of HNI during the 4th quarter worth approximately $176,000. 75.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Brian Scott Smith sold 556 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.90, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 3.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 3.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

HNI Trading Up 3.7 %

HNI stock opened at $43.77 on Friday. HNI Co. has a one year low of $39.76 and a one year high of $58.42. The stock has a market cap of $2.06 billion, a PE ratio of 15.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $43.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.86.

HNI (NYSE:HNI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.13. HNI had a net margin of 5.52% and a return on equity of 18.27%. The company had revenue of $642.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $657.03 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that HNI Co. will post 3.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HNI Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.02%. HNI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

HNI Company 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.