Marshall Wace LLP Decreases Stake in HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI)

Marshall Wace LLP lessened its position in shares of HNI Co. (NYSE:HNI - Free Report) by 66.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,901 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 17,534 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP's holdings in HNI were worth $448,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of HNI. Barclays PLC increased its stake in HNI by 216.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 93,131 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,015,000 after purchasing an additional 63,724 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of HNI by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 238,465 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $12,839,000 after buying an additional 4,358 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in HNI by 54.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 136,923 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $7,372,000 after acquiring an additional 48,237 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in HNI by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 120,029 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $6,065,000 after acquiring an additional 7,023 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of HNI by 72.0% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 8,653 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $436,000 after purchasing an additional 3,623 shares during the last quarter. 75.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HNI Stock Performance

HNI stock traded up $0.38 on Wednesday, hitting $43.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 805,487 shares, compared to its average volume of 301,744. HNI Co. has a 1 year low of $39.76 and a 1 year high of $58.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $2.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $43.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.69.

HNI (NYSE:HNI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The business services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.09. HNI had a net margin of 5.52% and a return on equity of 18.27%. The business had revenue of $599.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $580.47 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.37 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that HNI Co. will post 3.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HNI Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. HNI's dividend payout ratio is currently 45.67%.

Insider Transactions at HNI

In related news, insider Brian Scott Smith sold 556 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.90, for a total transaction of $27,744.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,394 shares of the company's stock, valued at $718,260.60. This represents a 3.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 3.37% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded 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.