Stephens Upgrades First Hawaiian (NASDAQ:FHB) to Overweight

First Hawaiian (NASDAQ:FHB) was upgraded by investment analysts at Stephens from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The firm presently has a $33.00 target price on the bank’s stock. Stephens’ price target points to a potential upside of 18.83% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on First Hawaiian from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of First Hawaiian from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Zacks Research raised shares of First Hawaiian from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of First Hawaiian from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of First Hawaiian in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.25.

First Hawaiian Stock Performance

Shares of FHB stock opened at $27.77 on Thursday. First Hawaiian has a 52-week low of $22.65 and a 52-week high of $30.58. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.93. The company has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.07, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.73.

First Hawaiian (NASDAQ:FHB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $231.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $227.77 million. First Hawaiian had a return on equity of 10.27% and a net margin of 24.41%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.58 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that First Hawaiian will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Hawaiian

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in First Hawaiian in the fourth quarter worth about $1,243,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in First Hawaiian by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,457,575 shares of the bank’s stock worth $365,777,000 after acquiring an additional 358,632 shares during the period. Ruffer LLP bought a new position in shares of First Hawaiian in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,028,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in shares of First Hawaiian during the 4th quarter valued at $979,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP increased its stake in First Hawaiian by 637.3% in the 1st quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 74,426 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,834,000 after buying an additional 64,332 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.63% of the company’s stock.

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.