Ruffer LLP Takes Position in First Hawaiian, Inc. $FHB

Ruffer LLP acquired a new stake in shares of First Hawaiian, Inc. (NASDAQ:FHB) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 119,509 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $3,028,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of First Hawaiian by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,158,776 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $152,923,000 after purchasing an additional 97,803 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of First Hawaiian by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,883,194 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $146,845,000 after purchasing an additional 77,478 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Hawaiian by 131.9% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,891,661 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $71,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,644,752 shares during the last quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of First Hawaiian by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 2,360,541 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $58,613,000 after purchasing an additional 17,241 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Hawaiian by 230.8% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,206,361 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $54,784,000 after purchasing an additional 1,539,415 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on First Hawaiian from $29.00 to $25.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Wall Street Zen raised First Hawaiian from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on First Hawaiian from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of First Hawaiian in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of First Hawaiian from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $26.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Craig Scott Wo sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.21, for a total value of $40,815.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

First Hawaiian Stock Down 1.0%

FHB stock opened at $26.87 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.42. First Hawaiian, Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.43 and a 52-week high of $28.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.21, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.71.

First Hawaiian (NASDAQ:FHB) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The bank reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.01. First Hawaiian had a net margin of 23.65% and a return on equity of 10.19%. The business had revenue of $225.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $225.33 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.41 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that First Hawaiian, Inc. will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Hawaiian Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. First Hawaiian’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.27%.

About First Hawaiian

First Hawaiian, Inc is the oldest and largest bank in Hawaii, operating as the bank holding company for First Hawaiian Bank. Established in 1858, the company offers a full suite of financial services to individual, business and institutional clients. Its product portfolio includes consumer and commercial lending, deposit accounts, treasury and cash management, foreign exchange and trade finance, as well as wealth management and trust services.

First Hawaiian serves customers through an extensive network of branches, ATMs and digital channels across the Hawaiian Islands, Guam, Saipan and American Samoa.