HNI Corporation (NYSE:HNI) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest in HNI Corporation has increased by 37.0% in August, totaling 3,960,000 shares, which indicates increasing bearish sentiment among investors.
• In recent transactions, insider Miguel M. Calado sold 2,000 shares of HNI stock, representing a 5.91% decrease in his ownership stake.
• HNI's most recent quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $1.11, exceeding analysts' expectations and marking a 7.0% increase in revenue year-over-year.

HNI Corporation (NYSE:HNI - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 3,960,000 shares, an increase of 37.0% from the August 15th total of 2,890,000 shares. Approximately 8.9% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 554,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.1 days. Based on an average daily volume of 554,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.1 days. Approximately 8.9% of the company's stock are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other HNI news, Director Miguel M. Calado sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $100,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 31,828 shares in the company, valued at $1,591,400. This represents a 5.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,943 shares of company stock worth $203,037. Corporate insiders own 3.37% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of HNI

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HNI. Millennium Management LLC bought a new stake in HNI in the 1st quarter valued at about $10,666,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in HNI by 196,733.6% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 234,232 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $10,388,000 after purchasing an additional 234,113 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new stake in HNI in the 1st quarter valued at about $10,301,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in HNI in the 1st quarter valued at about $8,309,000. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its position in HNI by 676.6% in the 2nd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 126,398 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $6,216,000 after purchasing an additional 110,122 shares during the last quarter. 75.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

HNI Stock Up 2.4%

NYSE HNI traded up $1.09 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $45.85. 703,760 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 426,759. HNI has a 12 month low of $39.76 and a 12 month high of $58.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.10 billion, a PE ratio of 14.89, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50 day moving average of $47.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.00.

HNI (NYSE:HNI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.25. HNI had a net margin of 5.73% and a return on equity of 20.08%. The firm had revenue of $667.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $646.49 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that HNI will post 3.6 earnings per share for the current year.

HNI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 22nd. HNI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.16%.

About HNI

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.