Federated Hermes, Inc. (NYSE:FHI) Short Interest Down 34.6% in October

Federated Hermes, Inc. (NYSE:FHI) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,910,000 shares, a decline of 34.6% from the October 15th total of 2,920,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 554,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days. Currently, 2.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Federated Hermes Trading Up 0.4 %

FHI traded up $0.17 during trading on Friday, hitting $42.18. 553,269 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 711,846. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $37.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.84. Federated Hermes has a 1 year low of $31.08 and a 1 year high of $42.56. The company has a current ratio of 2.75, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $3.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.15.

Federated Hermes (NYSE:FHI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $408.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $410.26 million. Federated Hermes had a return on equity of 29.85% and a net margin of 16.62%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Federated Hermes will post 3.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Federated Hermes Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Federated Hermes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Federated Hermes from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Federated Hermes from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Federated Hermes from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. TD Cowen raised Federated Hermes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $35.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Federated Hermes from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Federated Hermes currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.33.

Insider Transactions at Federated Hermes

In other news, VP Dolores D. Dudiak sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.89, for a total value of $199,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 77,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,083,018.32. The trade was a 6.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Saker Anwar Nusseibeh sold 12,152 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.86, for a total value of $484,378.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 179,096 shares in the company, valued at $7,138,766.56. This represents a 6.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Federated Hermes

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in shares of Federated Hermes by 3.1% in the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 9,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $336,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Federated Hermes by 26.0% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of Federated Hermes by 2.1% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 16,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $612,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Federated Hermes by 49.0% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Federated Hermes by 23.3% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 643 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.94% of the company’s stock.

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.