Short Interest in Hillenbrand, Inc. (NYSE:HI) Drops By 8.2%

Hillenbrand, Inc. (NYSE:HI) was the target of a large decline in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,460,000 shares, a decline of 8.2% from the March 15th total of 1,590,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 294,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.0 days. Approximately 2.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Nicholas R. Farrell sold 8,542 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.02, for a total value of $401,644.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 41,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,972,536.02. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Kimberly K. Ryan purchased 5,600 shares of Hillenbrand stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $44.94 per share, with a total value of $251,664.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 133,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,004,163.76. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Nicholas R. Farrell sold 8,542 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.02, for a total transaction of $401,644.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 41,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,972,536.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hillenbrand

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Hillenbrand by 3.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 829,268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,086,000 after purchasing an additional 28,886 shares during the last quarter. Mcmorgan & Co. LLC grew its position in shares of Hillenbrand by 21.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mcmorgan & Co. LLC now owns 60,701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,568,000 after buying an additional 10,735 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Hillenbrand by 8.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,278,168 shares of the company’s stock worth $350,249,000 after acquiring an additional 623,919 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Hillenbrand by 10.3% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 466,121 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,722,000 after acquiring an additional 43,372 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rice Hall James & Associates LLC acquired a new position in Hillenbrand in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,035,000. 89.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. CL King started coverage on shares of Hillenbrand in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating and a $61.00 target price for the company. TheStreet cut shares of Hillenbrand from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, December 18th.

Hillenbrand Stock Down 0.7 %

HI stock traded down $0.34 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $46.97. 268,623 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 292,488. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $47.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $44.30. Hillenbrand has a 12-month low of $37.19 and a 12-month high of $53.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Hillenbrand (NYSE:HI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $773.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $776.40 million. Hillenbrand had a net margin of 18.39% and a return on equity of 14.65%. On average, analysts anticipate that Hillenbrand will post 3.72 EPS for the current year.

Hillenbrand Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.222 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.89 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. Hillenbrand’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.53%.

About Hillenbrand

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.