Federated Hermes (NYSE:FHI) Hits New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Federated Hermes, Inc. (NYSE:FHI) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $43.92 and last traded at $43.57, with a volume of 61881 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.80.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Federated Hermes from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Federated Hermes from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Federated Hermes from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Federated Hermes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $35.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Federated Hermes from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.33.

Federated Hermes Trading Up 1.1 %

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.54 billion, a PE ratio of 13.76, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Federated Hermes (NYSE:FHI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.14. Federated Hermes had a return on equity of 29.85% and a net margin of 16.62%. The company had revenue of $408.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $410.26 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. Federated Hermes’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Federated Hermes, Inc. will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Federated Hermes Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Federated Hermes’s payout ratio is currently 39.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Federated Hermes news, insider Richard A. Novak sold 1,363 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.47, for a total transaction of $56,523.61. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 53,837 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,232,620.39. This trade represents a 2.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Paul A. Uhlman sold 6,311 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.39, for a total value of $261,212.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 310,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,862,646.13. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,280 shares of company stock worth $1,185,871. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Federated Hermes

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Federated Hermes by 88.3% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689,488 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,866,000 after purchasing an additional 1,261,097 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Federated Hermes during the second quarter valued at approximately $11,913,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Federated Hermes by 39.8% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,142,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,555,000 after purchasing an additional 324,958 shares during the last quarter. AXA S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Federated Hermes in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $6,200,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Federated Hermes by 24.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 769,167 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,282,000 after purchasing an additional 152,926 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.94% of the company’s stock.

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.