Hillenbrand Inc (NYSE:HI) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Hillenbrand Inc (NYSE:HI) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the five ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $32.00.

HI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Zacks Research cut Hillenbrand from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. CJS Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Hillenbrand in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of Hillenbrand in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hillenbrand in a research report on Monday, December 29th.

Hillenbrand Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:HI opened at $31.86 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $31.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.11. The stock has a market cap of $2.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.22 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. Hillenbrand has a 12 month low of $18.36 and a 12 month high of $35.48.

Hillenbrand (NYSE:HI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 19th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $652.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $592.25 million. Hillenbrand had a net margin of 1.61% and a return on equity of 12.69%. Hillenbrand’s revenue was down 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Hillenbrand will post 2.53 EPS for the current year.

Hillenbrand Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.2275 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 16th. This is a positive change from Hillenbrand’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.91 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Hillenbrand’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 149.18%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Irenic Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Hillenbrand in the third quarter worth $36,547,000. SG Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hillenbrand in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,858,000. Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Hillenbrand by 83.2% in the 3rd quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 1,301,708 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,198,000 after purchasing an additional 590,977 shares in the last quarter. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC purchased a new stake in Hillenbrand during the 2nd quarter valued at about $8,555,000. Finally, Midwest Trust Co bought a new stake in Hillenbrand during the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,845,000. Institutional investors own 89.09% of the company’s stock.

Hillenbrand Company Profile

Hillenbrand, Inc, headquartered in Batesville, Indiana, is a global industrial company specializing in engineered equipment and process solutions. Through its Coperion division, Hillenbrand designs and manufactures compounding and extrusion systems, polymer and food processing equipment, bulk material handling technologies and associated automation. These offerings support a variety of end markets, including plastics, chemicals, food, pharmaceutical and minerals, helping customers optimize production efficiency and product quality.

Tracing its roots to the Batesville Casket Company founded in 1906, the organization evolved through strategic acquisitions and expanded its focus on process technologies.