Hillenbrand, Inc. (NYSE:HI) Short Interest Up 6.8% in April

Hillenbrand, Inc. (NYSE:HI) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,560,000 shares, an increase of 6.8% from the March 31st total of 1,460,000 shares. Currently, 2.3% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 294,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.3 days.

Hillenbrand Trading Down 13.1 %

HI opened at $41.48 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The firm has a market cap of $2.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.28 and a beta of 1.49. Hillenbrand has a 12 month low of $37.19 and a 12 month high of $53.76. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $48.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $44.78.

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 net margin of 2.79% and a return on equity of 14.73%. The business had revenue of $785.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $801.55 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.74 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Hillenbrand will post 3.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hillenbrand Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.222 dividend. This represents a $0.89 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Hillenbrand’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.55%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Nicholas R. Farrell sold 8,542 shares of Hillenbrand stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 41,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,972,536.02. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Kimberly K. Ryan purchased 5,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $44.94 per share, for a total transaction of $251,664.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 133,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,004,163.76. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Nicholas R. Farrell sold 8,542 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.02, for a total transaction of $401,644.84. Following the completion of the transaction, 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.

Institutional Trading of Hillenbrand

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HI. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Hillenbrand by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,412,143 shares of the company’s stock valued at $402,521,000 after buying an additional 133,975 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hillenbrand by 1.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,754,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $201,159,000 after acquiring an additional 50,091 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Hillenbrand by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,885,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $138,058,000 after purchasing an additional 283,608 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Hillenbrand by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,747,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,605,000 after purchasing an additional 120,782 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Hillenbrand by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 868,965 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,580,000 after purchasing an additional 39,697 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.09% of the company’s stock.

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.