BOH Short Interest Hits a One-Year High Before Monday's Print

Bank of Hawaii Corporation carries more short interest than any point in at least the past year, with 10.2% of its free float sold short as of October 22. That is above most of its closest regional bank peers: COLB gained 8.5% on the week and GBCI rose 9.1%, while BOH managed 5.0%, a touch below the peer median of 5.6%. The short position has built steadily, up nearly 15% over the past month, though the borrow market tells a less aggressive story: availability remains ample at 789%, and the cost to borrow has eased to 0.40%, down roughly 18% on the week.

Options positioning has swung sharply defensive in recent sessions. The put/call ratio reached 3.62 on October 23, close to its 52-week peak of 3.64 and well above its 20-day average of 2.93. The jump coincides with the short interest build and follows a month in which the stock lost just over 1% before recovering 5% in the past week to close at $70.60.

The analyst debate centres on whether the bank's margin recovery can hold given anemic loan growth. The bull argument rests on a durable deposit franchise: net interest margin has expanded from 2.11% in early 2024 to 2.74% by Q1 2026, noninterest demand deposits represent 27% of the funding base, and CET1 capital sits at 12.1%. Bears counter that loan balances were essentially flat through most of 2024 and rose only 0.6% the following year, with declines across auto, home equity and construction lending masked by commercial real estate. Hawaii's dependence on tourism adds a macro overlay: sustained pressure on travel costs could weigh on local economic activity and credit quality. The consensus price target of $81.17 implies roughly 15% upside from the current price, but the most recent analyst move before the print, Piper Sandler cutting its target from $85 to $78 in early October while holding a Neutral rating, signals some erosion of conviction at the top of the range.

The company's own FDIC call report data, published by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, flagged two notable readings through June 2026: total deposits reached their largest Q2 figure on record since 2024, and net loans and leases rose for four consecutive quarters. The FDIC dataset has not yet been tested as a leading indicator against BOH's reported figures, so these readings are context rather than a signal for the print.

Monday's result will test whether the margin expansion story has enough momentum to absorb the loan growth drag, and whether deposit levels held through the third quarter after the 1.1% decline reported in Q1 2026.