Federated Hermes (NYSE:FHI) Shares Up 4% After Earnings Beat

Shares of Federated Hermes, Inc. (NYSE:FHI - Get Free Report) shot up 4% during trading on Friday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $40.49 and last traded at $39.84. 93,683 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 730,455 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.30.

The company reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $423.54 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $425.43 million. Federated Hermes had a net margin of 16.44% and a return on equity of 30.31%. The company's revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share.

Federated Hermes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 8th will be given a $0.34 dividend. This is a boost from Federated Hermes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 8th. Federated Hermes's dividend payout ratio is 38.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on FHI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $41.00 price target (down previously from $42.00) on shares of Federated Hermes in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Federated Hermes from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com upgraded Federated Hermes from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $43.00 price target (down previously from $45.00) on shares of Federated Hermes in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Federated Hermes from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $41.67.

Insider Activity at Federated Hermes

In other Federated Hermes news, CEO Saker Anwar Nusseibeh sold 5,546 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.81, for a total value of $215,240.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 179,096 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,950,715.76. The trade was a 3.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 3.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Federated Hermes by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,919,888 shares of the company's stock valued at $243,367,000 after acquiring an additional 253,553 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Federated Hermes by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,888,263 shares of the company's stock worth $77,626,000 after buying an additional 63,664 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Federated Hermes by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,282,252 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,731,000 after acquiring an additional 32,070 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Federated Hermes by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,276,898 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,493,000 after acquiring an additional 446,683 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Federated Hermes by 19.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 915,045 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,618,000 after purchasing an additional 145,878 shares during the period. 75.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Federated Hermes Stock Down 0.5 %

The company's fifty day simple moving average is $38.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.70. The company has a current ratio of 2.70, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.84.

About Federated Hermes

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.