Federated Hermes, Inc. (NYSE:FHI) Short Interest Down 7.5% in September

Federated Hermes, Inc. (NYSE:FHI) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,970,000 shares, a decrease of 7.5% from the September 15th total of 3,210,000 shares. Currently, 3.8% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 593,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.0 days.

Federated Hermes Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:FHI traded up $0.39 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $38.40. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 386,824 shares, compared to its average volume of 710,130. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.80, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.75. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $35.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.10. Federated Hermes has a fifty-two week low of $30.23 and a fifty-two week high of $38.42.

Federated Hermes (NYSE:FHI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $402.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $400.35 million. Federated Hermes had a return on equity of 28.60% and a net margin of 15.90%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.81 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Federated Hermes will post 3.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Federated Hermes Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 8th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. This is an increase from Federated Hermes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Federated Hermes’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

Insider Activity at Federated Hermes

In related news, VP John B. Fisher sold 79,830 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.71, for a total transaction of $2,611,239.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 442,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,476,464.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Federated Hermes by 88.3% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689,488 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,866,000 after buying an additional 1,261,097 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings 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 worth $61,395,000 after acquiring an additional 673,496 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Federated Hermes in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $11,913,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Federated Hermes by 39.5% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,184,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,116,000 after buying an additional 335,737 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Federated Hermes by 39.8% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,142,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,555,000 after buying an additional 324,958 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FHI. StockNews.com raised Federated Hermes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Federated Hermes from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Federated Hermes from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Federated Hermes from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Federated Hermes from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.80.

Federated Hermes Company Profile

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.