First Hawaiian, Inc. (NASDAQ:FHB) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

First Hawaiian, Inc. (NASDAQ:FHB - Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest in 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. Approximately 3.8% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 653,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.3 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on FHB shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on First Hawaiian from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of First Hawaiian from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of First Hawaiian in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $30.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of First Hawaiian from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of First Hawaiian from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $26.86.

Institutional Trading of First Hawaiian

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in First Hawaiian by 20.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 25,476 shares of the bank's stock worth $590,000 after acquiring an additional 4,383 shares during the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Hawaiian by 2.7% in the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,545 shares of the bank's stock valued at $892,000 after purchasing an additional 999 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its position in First Hawaiian by 9.9% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 16,252 shares of the bank's stock worth $376,000 after purchasing an additional 1,461 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in First Hawaiian during the third quarter valued at $632,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC lifted its position in First Hawaiian by 91.4% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 176,121 shares of the bank's stock valued at $4,077,000 after purchasing an additional 84,120 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.63% of the company's stock.

First Hawaiian Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of FHB traded down $0.38 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $25.57. 636,700 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 661,927. The company has a market cap of $3.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.61 and a beta of 0.98. The company's 50-day moving average price is $26.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.27. First Hawaiian has a 52-week low of $19.48 and a 52-week high of $28.80.

First Hawaiian Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. First Hawaiian's payout ratio is currently 59.43%.

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.