Federated Hermes (NYSE:FHI) Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Federated Hermes (NYSE:FHI) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Saturday morning.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on FHI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Federated Hermes from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Federated Hermes from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Federated Hermes from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded shares of Federated Hermes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Federated Hermes currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.00.

Federated Hermes Stock Performance

NYSE:FHI opened at $50.96 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $44.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.38. The company has a current ratio of 3.37, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market cap of $4.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.77. Federated Hermes has a twelve month low of $31.94 and a twelve month high of $51.15.

Federated Hermes (NYSE:FHI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.17. Federated Hermes had a net margin of 21.67% and a return on equity of 32.30%. The company had revenue of $424.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $424.83 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.96 earnings per share. Federated Hermes’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Federated Hermes will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Federated Hermes Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Federated Hermes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Federated Hermes

In other Federated Hermes news, VP Paul A. Uhlman sold 6,057 shares of Federated Hermes stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.14, for a total transaction of $255,241.98. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 316,930 shares in the company, valued at $13,355,430.20. This trade represents a 1.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Federated Hermes

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in Federated Hermes by 246.6% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 863 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 614 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Federated Hermes during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc purchased a new stake in Federated Hermes during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in Federated Hermes by 22.7% during the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 287 shares during the period. Finally, Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Federated Hermes during the 1st quarter worth approximately $72,000. 75.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.