Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Wednesday.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a market perform rating and set a $25.00 price objective (up previously from $20.00) on shares of Financial Institutions in a research report on Monday, July 29th.

Financial Institutions Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of FISI stock opened at $24.77 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.80. Financial Institutions has a twelve month low of $15.22 and a twelve month high of $27.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a market capitalization of $382.62 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.87 and a beta of 0.89.

Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.92. The business had revenue of $102.80 million during the quarter. Financial Institutions had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 12.06%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Financial Institutions will post 3.64 EPS for the current year.

Financial Institutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.84%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Financial Institutions’s payout ratio is presently 47.81%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Financial Institutions

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FISI. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Financial Institutions in the third quarter worth about $164,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Financial Institutions by 147.3% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 63,213 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,221,000 after buying an additional 37,653 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can bought a new position in shares of Financial Institutions during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $466,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Financial Institutions by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 64,257 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,241,000 after buying an additional 3,637 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Financial Institutions by 9.0% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 332,500 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,424,000 after acquiring an additional 27,400 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.45% of the company’s stock.

Financial Institutions Company Profile

Financial Institutions, Inc operates as a holding company for the Five Star Bank, a chartered bank that provides banking and financial services to individuals, municipalities, and businesses in New York. The company provides checking and savings account programs, including money market accounts, certificates of deposit, sweep investments, and individual retirement and other qualified plan accounts, as well as NOW accounts.