HNI Corporation (NYSE:HNI) Short Interest Up 39.7% in February

14 Mar 2026, 17:53 by Michael Walen · The Markets Daily

HNI Corporation (NYSE:HNI – Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 1,764,187 shares, an increase of 39.7% from the February 12th total of 1,262,728 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 778,284 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days. Approximately 4.0% of the company’s stock are sold short. Approximately 4.0% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 778,284 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Institutional Trading of HNI

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HNI. Cooke & Bieler LP increased its stake in shares of HNI by 23.0% in the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 754,493 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,719,000 after purchasing an additional 140,971 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC purchased a new stake in HNI in the first quarter worth about $10,666,000. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new stake in HNI in the first quarter worth about $10,301,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of HNI by 7.3% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 142,290 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,311,000 after buying an additional 9,730 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in shares of HNI by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 134,220 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,601,000 after buying an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. 75.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

HNI Stock Performance

Shares of HNI stock traded down $0.03 on Friday, reaching $40.43. The stock had a trading volume of 1,481,671 shares, compared to its average volume of 813,773. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.24. HNI has a 1 year low of $38.03 and a 1 year high of $53.29. The stock has a market cap of $1.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.34.

HNI (NYSE:HNI – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The business services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $888.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $693.78 million. HNI had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 15.80%. The firm’s revenue was up 38.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.87 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that HNI will post 3.6 EPS for the current year.

HNI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. HNI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 108.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on HNI. Wall Street Zen downgraded HNI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Weiss Ratings cut HNI from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of HNI in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.00.

Check Out Our Latest Report on HNI

About HNI

(Get Free Report)

HNI Corporation, founded in 1944 as the Heating & Novelty Company and headquartered in Muscatine, Iowa, is a leading manufacturer of office furniture and hearth products. Over its history, the company has evolved from producing gas heaters into two primary business segments: Office Furniture and Hearth & Home. HNI’s Office Furniture division operates under well-known brands such as The HON Company, Allsteel, Gunlocke and Kimball, offering a comprehensive portfolio of workstations, seating, tables, storage solutions and acoustic products tailored for corporate, education, healthcare and government markets.