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

Federated Hermes, Inc. (NYSE:FHI) saw a large increase in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,370,000 shares, an increase of 8.7% from the March 31st total of 2,180,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 771,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days. Currently, 2.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FHI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Federated Hermes from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Federated Hermes from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Federated Hermes in a report on Thursday, January 4th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Federated Hermes from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Federated Hermes from $39.00 to $37.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Federated Hermes has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.29.

Insider Activity at Federated Hermes

In other Federated Hermes news, VP Paul A. Uhlman sold 13,820 shares of Federated Hermes stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.20, for a total value of $500,284.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 276,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,994,240.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Federated Hermes news, VP Paul A. Uhlman sold 13,820 shares of Federated Hermes stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.20, for a total value of $500,284.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 276,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,994,240.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Paul A. Uhlman sold 90,745 shares of Federated Hermes stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.26, for a total transaction of $3,199,668.70. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 289,904 shares in the company, valued at $10,222,015.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 113,775 shares of company stock worth $4,032,822. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Federated Hermes

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Federated Hermes by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,568,361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $290,210,000 after buying an additional 68,974 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in Federated Hermes by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,033,058 shares of the company’s stock valued at $170,470,000 after buying an additional 562,232 shares during the period. Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors LP boosted its position in Federated Hermes by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors LP now owns 3,172,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,453,000 after buying an additional 27,321 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Federated Hermes by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,410,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,607,000 after buying an additional 49,928 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Federated Hermes by 59.1% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,813,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,395,000 after buying an additional 673,496 shares during the period. 75.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Federated Hermes Price Performance

FHI stock opened at $32.79 on Thursday. Federated Hermes has a 12 month low of $30.23 and a 12 month high of $41.41. The company has a current ratio of 3.39, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $35.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.09. The stock has a market cap of $2.77 billion, a PE ratio of 9.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.12.

Federated Hermes (NYSE:FHI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89. Federated Hermes had a net margin of 18.75% and a return on equity of 27.00%. The firm had revenue of $396.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $400.26 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Federated Hermes will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Federated Hermes Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a None dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be given a $1.31 dividend. This represents a yield of 3.8%. This is a boost from Federated Hermes’s previous None dividend of $1.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 7th. Federated Hermes’s payout ratio is 31.82%.

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.