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HNI (HNI) Could Be a Great Choice

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Whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities, all investors love seeing their portfolios score big returns. But when you're an income investor, your primary focus is generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments.

Cash flow can come from bond interest, interest from other types of investments, and of course, dividends. A dividend is the distribution of a company's earnings paid out to shareholders; it's often viewed by its dividend yield, a metric that measures a dividend as a percent of the current stock price. Many academic studies show that dividends make up large portions of long-term returns, and in many cases, dividend contributions surpass one-third of total returns.

HNI in Focus

HNI (HNI - Free Report) is headquartered in Muscatine, and is in the Business Services sector. The stock has seen a price change of 27.66% since the start of the year. The maker of office furniture and fireplaces is paying out a dividend of $0.33 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 2.47% compared to the Business - Office Products industry's yield of 2.51% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.5%.

Taking a look at the company's dividend growth, its current annualized dividend of $1.32 is up 3.1% from last year. In the past five-year period, HNI has increased its dividend 3 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 1.58%. Future dividend growth will depend on earnings growth as well as payout ratio, which is the proportion of a company's annual earnings per share that it pays out as a dividend. HNI's current payout ratio is 43%, meaning it paid out 43% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Earnings growth looks solid for HNI for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 is $3.17 per share, with earnings expected to increase 19.62% from the year ago period.

Bottom Line

Investors like dividends for many reasons; they greatly improve stock investing profits, decrease overall portfolio risk, and carry tax advantages, among others. But, not every company offers a quarterly payout.

High-growth firms or tech start-ups, for example, rarely provide their shareholders a dividend, while larger, more established companies that have more secure profits are often seen as the best dividend options. During periods of rising interest rates, income investors must be mindful that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle. With that in mind, HNI is a compelling investment opportunity. Not only is it a strong dividend play, but the stock currently sits at a Zacks Rank of 3 (Hold).


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