Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC Invests $216,000 in HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI)

Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 5,169 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in HNI in the first quarter valued at about $201,000. Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in HNI by 3.2% in the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 40,927 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,516,000 after buying an additional 1,270 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in HNI by 53.3% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 23,167 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $858,000 after buying an additional 8,055 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of HNI by 2.2% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 120,297 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,457,000 after purchasing an additional 2,586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its holdings in shares of HNI by 14.1% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 37,552 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,391,000 after purchasing an additional 4,630 shares during the last quarter. 75.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HNI Stock Up 2.2 %

NYSE:HNI opened at $42.17 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.99 billion, a PE ratio of 41.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $43.33 and a 200-day moving average of $40.60. HNI Co. has a 52 week low of $24.81 and a 52 week high of $45.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

HNI (NYSE:HNI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $679.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $686.15 million. HNI had a return on equity of 16.97% and a net margin of 2.03%. The business’s revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. Analysts predict that HNI Co. will post 2.93 EPS for the current year.

HNI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 6th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. HNI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 125.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com lowered HNI from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mary A. Bell sold 2,898 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total value of $124,990.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 76,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,285,772.79. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Mary A. Bell sold 2,898 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total value of $124,990.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 76,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,285,772.79. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Larry B. Porcellato sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.00, for a total value of $88,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. Insiders sold 17,374 shares of company stock valued at $749,534 in the last three months. 3.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.