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

Federated Hermes, Inc. (NYSE:FHI) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 3,152,471 shares, an increase of 14.7% from the March 31st total of 2,747,264 shares. Approximately 4.3% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 832,672 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.8 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Federated Hermes news, VP Paul A. Uhlman sold 72,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.23, for a total transaction of $4,070,602.16. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 263,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,843,989.01. This represents a 21.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 4.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FHI. Seizert Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Federated Hermes by 47.2% during the third quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC now owns 82,524 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,285,000 after acquiring an additional 26,459 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in Federated Hermes by 2,427.2% during the third quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 527,368 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,386,000 after acquiring an additional 506,500 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its stake in Federated Hermes by 3,592.3% during the third quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 46,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,410,000 after acquiring an additional 45,155 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Federated Hermes during the third quarter worth about $1,397,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in Federated Hermes by 19.9% during the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,008,221 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,357,000 after acquiring an additional 167,225 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on FHI. Argus raised Federated Hermes to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Federated Hermes in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Federated Hermes from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $56.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen raised Federated Hermes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 4th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $56.00 price objective on shares of Federated Hermes in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.25.

Federated Hermes Price Performance

FHI stock opened at $58.11 on Friday. Federated Hermes has a 52-week low of $40.24 and a 52-week high of $59.05. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.44. The company has a quick ratio of 2.30, a current ratio of 2.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.67.

Federated Hermes (NYSE:FHI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.07. Federated Hermes had a return on equity of 34.25% and a net margin of 22.40%.The business had revenue of $478.96 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $475.22 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.25 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Federated Hermes will post 5.08 EPS for the current year.

Federated Hermes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. This is a positive change from Federated Hermes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 8th. Federated Hermes’s payout ratio is 26.46%.

About Federated Hermes

Federated Hermes, Inc is a global investment manager that provides a range of asset management solutions to institutional and individual investors. The company offers active strategies across equity, fixed income, multi-asset, liquidity, and alternative investments. Through its suite of mutual funds, separate accounts and collective investment vehicles, Federated Hermes seeks to deliver performance-driven outcomes aligned with client objectives and risk tolerances.

In addition to traditional investment management, Federated Hermes has developed specialized capabilities in sustainability and responsible investing, integrating environmental, social and governance (ESG) research into its investment process.