Short Interest in HSBC Holdings plc (NYSE:HSBC) Declines By 19.4%

HSBC Holdings plc (NYSE:HSBC) was the target of a large drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,780,000 shares, a drop of 19.4% from the February 28th total of 9,650,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,400,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.2 days. Approximately 0.2% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HSBC

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of HSBC by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,883,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $142,605,000 after acquiring an additional 441,033 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in HSBC by 52.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,781,307 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $137,563,000 after purchasing an additional 951,050 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in HSBC by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 937,065 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,347,000 after purchasing an additional 40,388 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its stake in HSBC by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 514,642 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,454,000 after purchasing an additional 14,095 shares during the period. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of HSBC by 26.9% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 401,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,881,000 after buying an additional 85,104 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 1.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on HSBC shares. StockNews.com raised shares of HSBC from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded HSBC from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of HSBC in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of HSBC in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of HSBC from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, HSBC currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

HSBC Price Performance

Shares of HSBC stock traded up $0.25 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $57.51. The stock had a trading volume of 145,187 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,515,374. The business has a fifty day moving average of $55.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.99. HSBC has a fifty-two week low of $39.42 and a fifty-two week high of $61.88. The firm has a market cap of $204.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.27, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

HSBC (NYSE:HSBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The financial services provider reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.04. HSBC had a net margin of 16.17% and a return on equity of 12.20%. The company had revenue of $11.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.79 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that HSBC will post 6.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HSBC Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.52%. HSBC’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.81%.

About HSBC

HSBC Holdings plc provides banking and financial services worldwide. The company operates through Wealth and Personal Banking, Commercial Banking, and Global Banking and Markets segments. The Wealth and Personal Banking segment offers retail banking and wealth products, including current and savings accounts, mortgages and personal loans, credit and debit cards, and local and international payment services; and wealth management services comprising insurance and investment products, global asset management services, investment management, and private wealth solutions.