Should You Buy Hillenbrand Inc (HI) Today? Analysis, Price Targets, and 2026 Outlook.
Conclusion
Hold
Latest Price
31.890
1 Day change
0.09%
52 Week Range
35.480
Analysis Updated At
2026/01/29
Not a good buy right now for a beginner, long-term investor who wants to act immediately. HI’s short-term momentum is weakening (MACD turning down) and the pattern-based outlook points to modest downside over the next week/month, while the latest quarter shows a sharp revenue decline (even though EPS spiked). I would wait for the next earnings report (2026-02-04) or a clearer uptrend before buying.
Technical Analysis
Price is ~31.86, sitting right on the pivot (31.864) with tight nearby levels (R1 31.91 / S1 31.818), suggesting a “stall zone” rather than a clean breakout. Trend is mixed: Moving averages are bullish (SMA_5 > SMA_20 > SMA_200), which supports a longer-term uptrend structure, but the MACD histogram is slightly negative and negatively expanding (-0.0065), implying weakening near-term momentum. RSI(6) at ~53.8 is neutral (no oversold edge). Pattern-based projection also leans slightly bearish: ~70% chance of -2.84% over the next week and -2.13% over the next month.
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Options Data
Bullish
Open Interest Put-Call Ratio
Bullish
Option Volume Put-Call Ratio
Options positioning is call-heavy (low put/call ratios), which typically reflects bullish sentiment/hedging lightness. However, absolute volume is very small (75 total contracts; 70 calls vs 5 puts), so the signal may be noisy. Implied volatility is extremely low (30D IV ~9.3; IV percentile ~4.4; IV rank ~1.53), suggesting the options market is not pricing a big near-term move (or is complacent). Overall: mildly bullish sentiment, but not strong enough to override the weakening short-term technicals.
Technical Summary
Sell
1
Buy
10
Positive Catalysts
Next earnings date is scheduled for 2026-02-04 (after hours), which can reset the narrative if guidance improves. Gross margin ticked up YoY (31.79%, +1.31% YoY), supporting profitability resilience. Options skew (put/call ratios) is bullish-leaning.
Neutral/Negative Catalysts
Latest quarter shows a sharp revenue drop (-22.15% YoY), which is a key long-term fundamental negative unless it reverses. Near-term technical momentum is fading (MACD histogram below zero and expanding negatively). Pattern-based outlook suggests mild downside bias over the next week/month. No supportive recent news catalysts. No notable hedge fund/insider buying trends indicated, and no recent Congress trading data to confirm influential accumulation.
Financial Performance
2025/Q4: Revenue fell to $652.1M (-22.15% YoY), a clear top-line contraction. Despite that, profitability surged: Net income $75.7M (+418.49% YoY) and EPS $1.06 (+404.76% YoY), with gross margin improving to 31.79% (+1.31% YoY). The mix (revenue down, earnings sharply up) suggests earnings strength may be driven by non-recurring items, cost actions, mix, or prior-year comps—good for the quarter, but not as clean as broad-based growth.
Growth
Profitability
Efficiency
Analyst Ratings and Price Target Trends
No analyst rating or price-target change data was provided, so a recent trend assessment isn’t available. Without that, the Wall Street ‘pros vs cons’ read is driven mainly by fundamentals: Pros—margin improvement and strong EPS in the latest quarter; Cons—meaningful revenue decline and currently weakening near-term momentum.
Wall Street analysts forecast HI stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for HI is 32 USD with a low forecast of 32 USD and a high forecast of 32 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
2 Analyst Rating
Wall Street analysts forecast HI stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for HI is 32 USD with a low forecast of 32 USD and a high forecast of 32 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
0 Buy
2 Hold
0 Sell
Hold
Current: 31.860
Low
32
Averages
32
High
32
Current: 31.860
Low
32
Averages
32
High
32
CJS Securities
Outperform -> Market Perform
downgrade
$32
AI Analysis
2025-10-16
Reason
CJS Securities
Price Target
$32
AI Analysis
2025-10-16
downgrade
Outperform -> Market Perform
Reason
CJS Securities downgraded Hillenbrand to Market Perform from Outperform with a $32 price target after the company agreed be acquired by an affiliate of Lone Star Funds in an all-cash transaction valued at $32.00 per share.
DA Davidson
Matt Summerville
Neutral
maintain
$24 -> $32
2025-10-16
Reason
DA Davidson
Matt Summerville
Price Target
$24 -> $32
2025-10-16
maintain
Neutral
Reason
DA Davidson analyst Matt Summerville raised the firm's price target on Hillenbrand to $32 from $24 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares after the company announced it entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Lone Star Funds in an all-cash transaction valuing the enterprise at about $3.8B or $32.00 per share.
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