Federated Hermes, Inc. (NYSE:FHI) Short Interest Update

Federated Hermes, Inc. (NYSE:FHI) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 2,680,000 shares, a growth of 26.4% from the February 13th total of 2,120,000 shares. Currently, 3.5% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 726,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.7 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on FHI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $41.00 price objective (down from $42.00) on shares of Federated Hermes in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Evercore ISI set a $44.00 target price on shares of Federated Hermes in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $43.00 price target (down from $45.00) on shares of Federated Hermes in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Federated Hermes from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Federated Hermes from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Saker Anwar Nusseibeh sold 5,546 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.81, for a total value of $215,240.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 179,096 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,950,715.76. The trade was a 3.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Federated Hermes

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FHI. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in Federated Hermes in the third quarter valued at about $214,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Federated Hermes by 387.6% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 159,561 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,867,000 after purchasing an additional 126,840 shares during the period. Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Federated Hermes by 31.4% in the 3rd quarter. Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors LP now owns 90,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,343,000 after buying an additional 21,732 shares in the last quarter. Factorial Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Federated Hermes by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Factorial Partners LLC now owns 160,239 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,892,000 after buying an additional 16,500 shares during the period. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board boosted its stake in Federated Hermes by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 37,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,366,000 after buying an additional 4,442 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.94% of the company’s stock.

Federated Hermes Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FHI traded up $0.56 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $39.57. The company had a trading volume of 813,609 shares, compared to its average volume of 651,687. Federated Hermes has a 12 month low of $31.24 and a 12 month high of $43.92. The firm has a market cap of $3.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.40, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.03. 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 (NYSE:FHI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.08. Federated Hermes had a return on equity of 30.31% and a net margin of 16.44%. As a group, analysts predict that Federated Hermes will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Federated Hermes Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.13%. Federated Hermes’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.87%.

About Federated Hermes

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.