Short Interest in HSBC Holdings plc (NYSE:HSBC) Rises By 33.1%

HSBC Holdings plc (NYSE:HSBC) saw a large growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totaling 6,048,745 shares, a growth of 33.1% from the November 30th total of 4,545,518 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,501,122 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.0 days. Approximately 0.2% of the company’s shares are short sold. Approximately 0.2% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,501,122 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HSBC

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of HSBC by 1.1% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,726,420 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $271,438,000 after buying an additional 53,072 shares during the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of HSBC during the first quarter valued at $391,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of HSBC by 254.2% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 23,718 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 17,021 shares in the last quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA lifted its holdings in HSBC by 237.0% during the second quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA now owns 170,779 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,382,000 after buying an additional 120,110 shares during the period. Finally, Fortis Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of HSBC in the 1st quarter worth $391,000. 1.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HSBC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of HSBC in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised HSBC from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of HSBC in a research report on Monday. BNP Paribas Exane raised HSBC from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of HSBC in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.00.

HSBC Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE HSBC traded down $0.60 on Thursday, hitting $78.68. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 763,426 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,418,576. The firm has a market cap of $270.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.56, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.52. HSBC has a 52-week low of $45.66 and a 52-week high of $79.97. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $72.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

HSBC (NYSE:HSBC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.15. HSBC had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 12.85%.The firm had revenue of $17.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.78 billion. Research analysts predict that HSBC will post 6.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HSBC Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 7th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. This is a positive change from HSBC’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. HSBC’s dividend payout ratio is 41.68%.

About HSBC

HSBC Holdings plc (NYSE: HSBC) is a multinational banking and financial services organization headquartered in London. It traces its origins to the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, founded in 1865 to facilitate trade between Europe and Asia, and has since grown into one of the world’s largest banking groups. The company is publicly listed in multiple markets, including the London Stock Exchange, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and as an American depositary receipt on the New York Stock Exchange.

HSBC operates a universal banking model, serving retail, commercial, corporate and institutional clients.