HNI (NYSE:HNI) Shares Pass Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

HNI Corporation (NYSE:HNI)’s share price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $44.59 and traded as high as $47.89. HNI shares last traded at $47.54, with a volume of 410,886 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on HNI shares. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of HNI in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of HNI from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of HNI from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.00.

HNI Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.95, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.95. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.33.

HNI (NYSE:HNI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.03. HNI had a net margin of 5.46% and a return on equity of 20.33%. The business had revenue of $683.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $688.64 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that HNI Corporation will post 3.6 earnings per share for the current year.

HNI Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 17th. HNI’s payout ratio is currently 45.64%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cooke & Bieler LP bought a new stake in HNI in the third quarter worth about $28,744,000. Millennium Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of HNI in the 1st quarter worth approximately $10,666,000. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of HNI in the 1st quarter worth approximately $10,301,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in HNI by 676.6% during the second quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 126,398 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,216,000 after buying an additional 110,122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in HNI by 167.4% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 42,621 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,792,000 after buying an additional 26,683 shares during the last quarter. 75.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

HNI Company Profile

HNI Corporation, founded in 1944 as the Heating & Novelty Company and headquartered in Muscatine, Iowa, is a leading manufacturer of office furniture and hearth products. Over its history, the company has evolved from producing gas heaters into two primary business segments: Office Furniture and Hearth & Home. HNI’s Office Furniture division operates under well-known brands such as The HON Company, Allsteel, Gunlocke and Kimball, offering a comprehensive portfolio of workstations, seating, tables, storage solutions and acoustic products tailored for corporate, education, healthcare and government markets.

In its Hearth & Home segment, HNI designs, manufactures and distributes fireplaces, stoves, fireplace inserts, logs and related accessories.