First Hawaiian, Inc. (NASDAQ:FHB) Short Interest Down 6.9% in December

First Hawaiian, Inc. (NASDAQ:FHB) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,450,000 shares, a decline of 6.9% from the December 15th total of 4,780,000 shares. Currently, 3.5% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 677,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.6 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FHB has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of First Hawaiian from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of First Hawaiian from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stephens started coverage on shares of First Hawaiian in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on First Hawaiian from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on First Hawaiian from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, First Hawaiian currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.86.

First Hawaiian Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FHB traded up $0.20 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $26.09. The stock had a trading volume of 445,437 shares, compared to its average volume of 666,364. The company has a 50 day moving average of $26.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.72. First Hawaiian has a twelve month low of $19.48 and a twelve month high of $28.80. The firm has a market cap of $3.34 billion, a PE ratio of 14.91 and a beta of 0.99.

First Hawaiian Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.99%. First Hawaiian’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.43%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Hawaiian

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of First Hawaiian by 1.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 686,701 shares of the bank’s stock worth $15,897,000 after acquiring an additional 7,926 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in First Hawaiian in the third quarter valued at $632,000. Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in First Hawaiian by 91.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 176,121 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,077,000 after purchasing an additional 84,120 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of First Hawaiian by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 10,502,160 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $218,025,000 after buying an additional 942,634 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Hawaiian by 100.8% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 3,870 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 1,943 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.63% of the company’s stock.

First Hawaiian Company Profile

First Hawaiian, Inc operates as a bank holding company for First Hawaiian Bank that provides a range of banking products and services to consumer and commercial customers in the United States. It operates in three segments: Retail Banking, Commercial Banking, and Treasury and Other. The company offers various deposit products, including checking, savings, and time deposit accounts, and other deposit accounts.