Short Interest in John Hancock Preferred Income Fund (NYSE:HPI) Expands By 72.5%

John Hancock Preferred Income Fund (NYSE:HPI) saw a large increase in short interest during 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 short-interest ratio is presently 1.2 days.

Institutional Trading of John Hancock Preferred Income Fund

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HPI. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in John Hancock Preferred Income Fund by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 45,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $743,000 after buying an additional 1,108 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in John Hancock Preferred Income Fund by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 44,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $726,000 after buying an additional 6,253 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in John Hancock Preferred Income Fund by 3.7% during the third quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 20,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $362,000 after buying an additional 742 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in John Hancock Preferred Income Fund by 4.4% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 15,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arlington Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in John Hancock Preferred Income Fund during the third quarter worth $219,000.

John Hancock Preferred Income Fund Price Performance

NYSE:HPI opened at $16.08 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $15.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.22. John Hancock Preferred Income Fund has a twelve month low of $15.26 and a twelve month high of $17.61.

John Hancock Preferred Income Fund Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be issued a $0.1235 dividend. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 11th.

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.