Hillenbrand, Inc. (NYSE:HI) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Hillenbrand, Inc. (NYSE:HI) was the target of a significant decline in short interest during the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,840,000 shares, a decline of 12.4% from the June 15th total of 2,100,000 shares. Approximately 2.7% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 347,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.3 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, KeyCorp initiated coverage on Hillenbrand in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Robert M. Vanhimbergen purchased 2,400 shares of Hillenbrand stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $42.58 per share, for a total transaction of $102,192.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 48,794 shares in the company, valued at $2,077,648.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Robert M. Vanhimbergen purchased 2,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $42.58 per share, with a total value of $102,192.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 48,794 shares in the company, valued at $2,077,648.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly K. Ryan acquired 2,350 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $42.69 per share, with a total value of $100,321.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 135,954 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,803,876.26. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired 6,537 shares of company stock valued at $278,193 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hillenbrand

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HI. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Hillenbrand by 58.2% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 712 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hillenbrand during the fourth quarter valued at about $63,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hillenbrand in the first quarter worth about $117,000. Greenleaf Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Hillenbrand in the first quarter worth about $200,000. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hillenbrand in the fourth quarter worth about $203,000. 89.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hillenbrand Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HI traded up $0.35 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $43.03. 358,156 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 325,494. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.56 and a beta of 1.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $42.75 and a 200 day moving average of $45.57. Hillenbrand has a 1 year low of $37.19 and a 1 year high of $53.29.

Hillenbrand (NYSE:HI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.01. Hillenbrand had a return on equity of 14.75% and a net margin of 2.79%. The company had revenue of $785.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $801.55 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.74 EPS. Hillenbrand’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Hillenbrand will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Hillenbrand Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.222 dividend. This represents a $0.89 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Hillenbrand’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.55%.

Hillenbrand Company Profile

Hillenbrand, Inc operates as an industrial company in the United States and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Advanced Process Solutions and Molding Technology Solutions. The Advanced Process Solutions segment designs, engineers, manufactures, markets, and services process and material handling equipment and systems comprising compounding, extrusion, and material handling equipment, equipment system design services, as well as offers mixing technology, ingredient automation, and portion process; and provides screening and separating equipment for various industries, including plastics, food and pharmaceuticals, chemicals, fertilizers, minerals, energy, wastewater treatment, forest products, and other general industrials.