First Hawaiian, Inc. (NASDAQ:FHB) Short Interest Down 6.9% in December

First Hawaiian, Inc. (NASDAQ:FHB) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,450,000 shares, a drop of 6.9% from the December 15th total of 4,780,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 677,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.6 days. Currently, 3.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FHB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on First Hawaiian from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on First Hawaiian from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of First Hawaiian in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of First Hawaiian from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. 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 currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.86.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FHB. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of First Hawaiian by 51.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,838 shares of the bank’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. purchased a new stake in First Hawaiian in the third quarter worth about $51,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in First Hawaiian by 32.5% during the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,628 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 644 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its position in First Hawaiian by 459.2% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,483 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 2,039 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Hawaiian by 49.1% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,163 shares of the bank’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 1,041 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.63% of the company’s stock.

First Hawaiian Price Performance

First Hawaiian stock traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $26.09. The stock had a trading volume of 445,437 shares, compared to its average volume of 666,364. The stock has a market cap of $3.34 billion, a PE ratio of 14.91 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.69. 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 announced 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 of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.99%. First Hawaiian’s payout ratio is presently 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.