Xponance Inc. Invests $249,000 in HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI)

Xponance Inc. bought a new stake in HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,937 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $249,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HNI. State Street Corp increased its position in HNI by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,876,542 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $101,033,000 after purchasing an additional 20,717 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of HNI by 275.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,836,205 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $98,861,000 after acquiring an additional 1,346,999 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of HNI in the 4th quarter valued at $69,253,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in HNI by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,084,830 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $58,419,000 after purchasing an additional 7,553 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in HNI by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 628,272 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,646,000 after purchasing an additional 105,034 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.26% of the company’s stock.

HNI Trading Down 1.7 %

HNI opened at $44.69 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $47.17 and its 200-day moving average is $50.81. HNI Co. has a 52-week low of $40.94 and a 52-week high of $58.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.90.

HNI (NYSE:HNI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $642.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $657.03 million. HNI had a net margin of 5.52% and a return on equity of 18.27%. Analysts expect that HNI Co. will post 3.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HNI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. HNI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at HNI

In other HNI news, insider Brian Scott Smith sold 556 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.90, for a total transaction of $27,744.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,394 shares in the company, valued at $718,260.60. This represents a 3.72 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 3.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com cut HNI from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st.

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.