John Hancock Preferred Income Fund (NYSE:HPI) Short Interest Down 14.5% in February

John Hancock Preferred Income Fund (NYSE:HPI) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of February. As of February 29th, there was short interest totalling 18,800 shares, a decline of 14.5% from the February 14th total of 22,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 73,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.3 days.

John Hancock Preferred Income Fund Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:HPI traded up $0.06 during trading on Monday, reaching $16.22. 45,311 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 62,530. John Hancock Preferred Income Fund has a 12 month low of $12.85 and a 12 month high of $16.76. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $16.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.15.

John Hancock Preferred Income Fund Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th will be given a $0.1235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 8th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.14%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On John Hancock Preferred Income Fund

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HPI. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of John Hancock Preferred Income Fund by 44.2% in the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 433,335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,314,000 after buying an additional 132,800 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of John Hancock Preferred Income Fund in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,804,000. UBS Group AG raised its position in shares of John Hancock Preferred Income Fund by 25.6% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 345,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,447,000 after buying an additional 70,416 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of John Hancock Preferred Income Fund in the first quarter valued at approximately $983,000. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC raised its position in shares of John Hancock Preferred Income Fund by 77.6% in the first quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 106,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,064,000 after buying an additional 46,615 shares in the last quarter.

John Hancock Preferred Income Fund Company Profile

John Hancock Preferred Income Fund is a closed ended balanced mutual fund launched and managed by John Hancock Investment Management LLC. It is co-managed by John Hancock Asset Management. The fund invests in the public equity and fixed income markets of the United States. It seeks to invest in securities of companies operating across diversified sectors.