John Hancock Preferred Income Fund (NYSE:HPI) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

John Hancock Preferred Income Fund (NYSE:HPI) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totaling 67,212 shares, an increase of 72.5% from the April 30th total of 38,955 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 57,551 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.2 days.

John Hancock Preferred Income Fund Stock Performance

NYSE HPI opened at $16.14 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $15.95 and a 200-day moving average of $16.24. John Hancock Preferred Income Fund has a 52-week low of $15.26 and a 52-week high of $17.61.

John Hancock Preferred Income Fund Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th will be paid a $0.1235 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.2%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HPI. Huntington National Bank acquired a new position in John Hancock Preferred Income Fund in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Arax Advisory Partners acquired a new position in John Hancock Preferred Income Fund in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. acquired a new position in John Hancock Preferred Income Fund in the 4th quarter valued at about $73,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in John Hancock Preferred Income Fund by 47.7% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 6,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 2,023 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp acquired a new position in John Hancock Preferred Income Fund in the 4th quarter valued at $177,000.

John Hancock Preferred Income Fund Company Profile

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.