Hillenbrand (NYSE:HI) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Hillenbrand, Inc. (NYSE:HI)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $33.95, but opened at $30.64. Hillenbrand shares last traded at $30.45, with a volume of 114,245 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on HI. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $33.00 price target on shares of Hillenbrand in a research note on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com downgraded Hillenbrand from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Hillenbrand from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 14th.

Hillenbrand Trading Down 0.5 %

The stock has a market cap of $2.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.97 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Hillenbrand (NYSE:HI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.02. Hillenbrand had a positive return on equity of 15.00% and a negative net margin of 7.12%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.69 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Hillenbrand, Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hillenbrand Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.225 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. This is a positive change from Hillenbrand’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Hillenbrand’s dividend payout ratio is -28.66%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hillenbrand

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Channing Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Hillenbrand during the 4th quarter worth approximately $20,648,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Hillenbrand in the third quarter valued at about $17,178,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Hillenbrand during the fourth quarter worth about $7,782,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in Hillenbrand by 131.4% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 279,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,589,000 after purchasing an additional 158,464 shares during the period. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Hillenbrand in the third quarter valued at approximately $4,368,000. 89.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.