First Hawaiian (NASDAQ:FHB) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• First Hawaiian's stock rating was upgraded from "sell" to "hold" by Wall Street Zen, reflecting a change in analysts' sentiment towards the company's prospects.
• The average price target for First Hawaiian shares is set at $27.64, with several analysts maintaining "underweight" and "hold" ratings.
• First Hawaiian reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.58, exceeding expectations and demonstrating strong financial performance with a net margin of 20.36%.

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of First Hawaiian (NASDAQ:FHB - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on FHB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of First Hawaiian from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on First Hawaiian from $25.00 to $25.50 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of First Hawaiian from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating on shares of First Hawaiian in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $27.64.

First Hawaiian Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FHB traded down $0.32 during trading on Friday, reaching $24.81. 1,023,369 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,082,643. First Hawaiian has a 12-month low of $20.32 and a 12-month high of $28.80. The firm has a market cap of $3.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.25 and a beta of 0.83. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $24.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.79.

First Hawaiian (NASDAQ:FHB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $217.54 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $214.67 million. First Hawaiian had a return on equity of 9.29% and a net margin of 21.45%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.48 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that First Hawaiian will post 1.95 EPS for the current year.

First Hawaiian Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.19%. First Hawaiian's payout ratio is 53.61%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Hawaiian

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FHB. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in First Hawaiian in the 4th quarter worth approximately $215,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Hawaiian during the fourth quarter worth approximately $339,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of First Hawaiian during the fourth quarter worth approximately $670,000. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Hawaiian by 22.8% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 171,687 shares of the bank's stock worth $4,455,000 after buying an additional 31,904 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of First Hawaiian during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,266,000. 97.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.