John Hancock Preferred Income Fund (NYSE:HPI) Short Interest Down 16.2% in March
by Doug Wharley · The Cerbat GemJohn Hancock Preferred Income Fund (NYSE:HPI – Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 65,523 shares, a drop of 16.2% from the March 15th total of 78,177 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 51,913 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.3 days.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in John Hancock Preferred Income Fund by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 638,679 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,340,000 after buying an additional 11,212 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in John Hancock Preferred Income Fund by 0.3% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 567,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,419,000 after buying an additional 1,753 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in John Hancock Preferred Income Fund by 13.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 222,924 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,868,000 after buying an additional 26,939 shares in the last quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC boosted its holdings in John Hancock Preferred Income Fund by 35.5% during the fourth quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 211,737 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,428,000 after buying an additional 55,509 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in John Hancock Preferred Income Fund by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 188,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,044,000 after buying an additional 782 shares in the last quarter.
John Hancock Preferred Income Fund Price Performance
HPI traded up $0.10 on Friday, reaching $16.08. The company had a trading volume of 56,543 shares, compared to its average volume of 61,744. John Hancock Preferred Income Fund has a 1 year low of $15.15 and a 1 year high of $17.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $15.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.50.
John Hancock Preferred Income Fund Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 13th will be paid a $0.1235 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 13th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.2%.
About John Hancock Preferred Income Fund
John Hancock Preferred Income Fund (NYSE: HPI) is a closed-end management investment company structured as a statutory trust under the Investment Company Act of 1940. The fund’s primary objective is to provide high current income with growth of capital as a secondary goal. It pursues this objective principally through investments in preferred securities, debt instruments and, to a lesser extent, equity securities.
The fund focuses on preferred stocks issued by U.S. and foreign issuers across a variety of industries, including financials, utilities and industrials.