Federated Hermes, Inc. (NYSE:FHI) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Federated Hermes, Inc. (NYSE:FHI) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,120,000 shares, a growth of 29.3% from the January 31st total of 1,640,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 644,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.3 days. Currently, 2.7% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Activity at Federated Hermes

In related news, CEO Saker Anwar Nusseibeh sold 5,546 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.81, for a total transaction of $215,240.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 179,096 shares in the company, valued at $6,950,715.76. This trade represents a 3.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FHI. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Federated Hermes by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,276,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,493,000 after buying an additional 446,683 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management increased its position in Federated Hermes by 48.2% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 870,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,798,000 after buying an additional 283,300 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Federated Hermes by 51.6% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 818,408 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,645,000 after buying an additional 278,524 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Federated Hermes during the fourth quarter worth approximately $10,639,000. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position in Federated Hermes by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,919,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $243,367,000 after buying an additional 253,553 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on FHI. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $43.00 price target (down previously from $45.00) on shares of Federated Hermes in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group increased their price target on Federated Hermes from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI set a $44.00 price target on Federated Hermes in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $41.00 price target (down previously from $42.00) on shares of Federated Hermes in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Federated Hermes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Federated Hermes currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $42.17.

Federated Hermes Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE FHI traded down $0.92 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $37.76. 1,020,917 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 711,744. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.70 and a quick ratio of 2.03. Federated Hermes has a twelve month low of $31.24 and a twelve month high of $43.92. The company has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a PE ratio of 11.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.16. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.72.

Federated Hermes (NYSE:FHI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.08. Federated Hermes had a return on equity of 30.31% and a net margin of 16.44%. Research analysts predict that Federated Hermes will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Federated Hermes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Federated Hermes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.87%.

Federated Hermes Company Profile

Federated Hermes, Inc is a publicly owned investment manager. Through its subsidiaries, the firm provides its services to individuals, including high net worth individuals, banking or thrift institutions, investment companies, pension and profit sharing plans, pooled investment vehicles, charitable organizations, state or municipal government entities, and registered investment advisors.