HNI (NYSE:HNI) Sets New 52-Week Low – What’s Next?

HNI Corporation (NYSE:HNI)’s share price hit a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $37.94 and last traded at $37.95, with a volume of 250737 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $39.51.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HNI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut HNI from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded HNI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of HNI in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.00.

HNI Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.24. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $46.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.30. The stock has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.94.

HNI (NYSE:HNI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The business services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $888.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $693.78 million. HNI had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 15.80%. The firm’s revenue was up 38.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that HNI Corporation will post 3.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HNI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. HNI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 108.80%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HNI. Cooke & Bieler LP purchased a new stake in HNI in the third quarter worth about $28,744,000. Millennium Management LLC bought a new position in HNI in the 1st quarter worth about $10,666,000. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new stake in HNI during the 1st quarter valued at about $10,301,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in HNI by 676.6% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. 75.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.