Federated Hermes, Inc. (NYSE:FHI) Increases Dividend to $1.31 Per Share

Federated Hermes, Inc. (NYSE:FHI) declared a None dividend on Thursday, April 25th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be paid a dividend of 1.31 per share on Wednesday, May 15th. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 7th. This is a boost from Federated Hermes’s previous None dividend of $1.27.

Federated Hermes has raised its dividend by an average of 0.9% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 1 years. Federated Hermes has a payout ratio of 27.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Federated Hermes to earn $4.14 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.12 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 27.1%.

Federated Hermes Price Performance

Shares of FHI traded down $1.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $32.80. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,806,404 shares, compared to its average volume of 780,194. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $35.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.32, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.89. Federated Hermes has a fifty-two week low of $30.23 and a fifty-two week high of $42.57.

Federated Hermes (NYSE:FHI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.89. The company had revenue of $396.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $400.26 million. Federated Hermes had a net margin of 18.75% and a return on equity of 27.16%. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.78 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Federated Hermes will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Federated Hermes news, insider Richard A. Novak sold 908 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.07, for a total transaction of $32,751.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 49,068 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,769,882.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Federated Hermes news, VP Paul A. Uhlman sold 13,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.20, for a total transaction of $500,284.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 276,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,994,240.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Richard A. Novak sold 908 shares of Federated Hermes stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.07, for a total value of $32,751.56. Following the sale, the insider now owns 49,068 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,769,882.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 115,435 shares of company stock worth $4,092,831. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Federated Hermes from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Federated Hermes from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Federated Hermes in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Federated Hermes from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.50.

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.