First Hawaiian, Inc. (NASDAQ:FHB) Short Interest Up 6.7% in December

First Hawaiian, Inc. (NASDAQ:FHB) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,780,000 shares, an increase of 6.7% from the November 30th total of 4,480,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 653,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.3 days. Currently, 3.8% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Hawaiian

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in First Hawaiian by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 10,502,160 shares of the bank’s stock worth $218,025,000 after purchasing an additional 942,634 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in First Hawaiian by 958.2% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 439,423 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,043,000 after acquiring an additional 397,897 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in First Hawaiian by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,205,140 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $108,057,000 after acquiring an additional 370,722 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Hawaiian by 96.8% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 478,262 shares of the bank’s stock worth $11,072,000 after purchasing an additional 235,253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Hawaiian by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,339,180 shares of the bank’s stock worth $69,321,000 after purchasing an additional 203,407 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.63% of the company’s stock.

First Hawaiian Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FHB traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $26.22. 25,634 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 661,927. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $26.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.26. The company has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.98 and a beta of 0.98. First Hawaiian has a 52 week low of $19.48 and a 52 week high of $28.80.

First Hawaiian Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.97%. First Hawaiian’s payout ratio is 59.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on FHB. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on First Hawaiian from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Stephens assumed coverage on First Hawaiian in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $30.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of First Hawaiian from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays raised their price objective on First Hawaiian from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of First Hawaiian from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.86.

About First Hawaiian

First Hawaiian, Inc operates as a bank holding company for First Hawaiian Bank that provides a range of banking products and services to consumer and commercial customers in the United States. It operates in three segments: Retail Banking, Commercial Banking, and Treasury and Other. The company offers various deposit products, including checking, savings, and time deposit accounts, and other deposit accounts.