# John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III Preferred Income Fund III (HPS) fundamentals

Data as of 2026-09-08. NYSE, United States. Sector: Financial Services / Capital Markets. Price $13.61, market value $438 million.

## Valuation
- **P/E (trailing): 11.6×** (5-yr avg 6.6×, 3-yr avg 6.6×). John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III Preferred Income Fund III trades at 11.6× trailing earnings, well above its own five-year average of 6.6×: investors are paying up relative to the company's past. The Financial Services median in the September 2026 study was 13.1×.
- **Price / sales: 6.6×**. Each dollar of revenue is priced at 6.6×.
- **Price / book: 0.9×**. The shares trade below book value, which can signal a bargain or a balance sheet the market doubts.
- **Free-cash-flow yield: 10.2%** (5-yr avg 9.8%). Free cash flow equals 10.2% of the market value, in line with its five-year average of 9.8%. Above 5% is generally attractive.
- **Earnings yield: 8.6%**. The inverse of the P/E: 8.6% of the price is earned each year.

## Profitability
- **Net margin: 99.2%**. 99.2% of each dollar of sales reaches the bottom line.
- **Return on equity: 14.2%**. 14.2% on shareholders' equity is solid.
- **Return on assets: 8.9%**. Each dollar of assets produces 8.9% of profit; low single digits are normal for banks and insurers.

## Growth
- **Revenue growth (1 yr): 318.8%**. Revenue grew 318.8% over the last year.
- **EPS growth (1 yr): 311.3%**. Earnings per share rose 311.3%, slower than revenue, so margins compressed.

## Financial health
- **Piotroski F-score: 4/9**. 4 of 9 checks pass: mixed.
- **Cash and short-term investments: $361,625**. Leverage ratios are shown differently for banks and insurers, whose balance sheets are built on deposits and reserves; use return on equity and the regulatory capital in the filings instead.

## Dividends
- **Dividend yield: 9.70%** ($1.32 per share, trailing). John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III Preferred Income Fund III yields 9.70%, high enough to check carefully: yields this high often precede a cut.
- **Payout ratio: 62%** (92% of free cash flow). 62% of earnings goes out as dividends, leaving room to keep raising it.
- **Consecutive years of increases: 5**. 5 straight years of increases.
- **Dividend growth (5 yr): 0.0%/yr** (1-yr 0.0%). The dividend has not grown over five years.

## Price and momentum
- **Total return (1 yr): -0.6%** (YTD -0.4%, 3-mo -4.5%). The shares are down 0.6% over twelve months including dividends.
- **From 52-week high: -13.2%** (0.3% above the low). Trading 13% below its 52-week high.
- **200-day average: below**. The price sits below its 200-day moving average, the usual definition of a downtrend.
- **RSI (14-day): 24**. An RSI of 24 is oversold; bounces are common, but oversold can stay oversold in a real decline.
- **Beta (1 yr): 0.40** (volatility 10%). Beta of 0.40 against the S&P 500: the shares move much less than the market.

Live score and charts: https://foliofundamentals.com/analyzer?s=HPS · Page: https://foliofundamentals.com/stocks/hps

Not investment advice.