John Hancock Preferred Income Fund (NYSE:HPI) Short Interest Update

John Hancock Preferred Income Fund (NYSE:HPI) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 65,523 shares, a decrease of 16.2% from the March 15th total of 78,177 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 51,913 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.3 days.

John Hancock Preferred Income Fund Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HPI traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $16.08. The company had a trading volume of 56,543 shares, compared to its average volume of 61,744. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $15.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $16.50. John Hancock Preferred Income Fund has a 12-month low of $15.15 and a 12-month high of $17.61.

John Hancock Preferred Income Fund Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.1235 per share. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 13th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On John Hancock Preferred Income Fund

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of John Hancock Preferred Income Fund during the 4th quarter valued at $73,000. Guggenheim Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of John Hancock Preferred Income Fund by 35.5% during the 4th quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 211,737 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,428,000 after purchasing an additional 55,509 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of John Hancock Preferred Income Fund by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 44,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $726,000 after purchasing an additional 6,253 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of John Hancock Preferred Income Fund by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 45,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $743,000 after purchasing an additional 1,108 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC raised its stake in shares of John Hancock Preferred Income Fund by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 56,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $909,000 after purchasing an additional 3,590 shares in the last quarter.

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.