Short Interest in First Hawaiian, Inc. (NASDAQ:FHB) Expands By 6.7%

First Hawaiian, Inc. (NASDAQ:FHB) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,780,000 shares, a growth 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. Approximately 3.8% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Hawaiian

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FHB. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of First Hawaiian by 9.9% during the second 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 lifted its holdings in First Hawaiian by 958.2% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 439,423 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,043,000 after buying an additional 397,897 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted 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 buying an additional 370,722 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake 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 valued at $11,072,000 after buying an additional 235,253 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of First Hawaiian by 6.5% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,339,180 shares of the bank’s stock worth $69,321,000 after acquiring an additional 203,407 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on FHB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of First Hawaiian from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. 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. Stephens began coverage on shares of First Hawaiian in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $30.00 price target for the company. Barclays raised their price target on shares of First Hawaiian from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on First Hawaiian from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Hawaiian presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.86.

First Hawaiian Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of First Hawaiian stock opened at $25.95 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.83 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $26.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.26. First Hawaiian has a 1-year low of $19.48 and a 1-year high of $28.80.

First Hawaiian Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.01%. First Hawaiian’s dividend payout ratio is 59.43%.

First Hawaiian Company Profile

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.