Short Interest in Financial Institutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISI) Declines By 8.7%

Financial Institutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISI) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 63,100 shares, a decrease of 8.7% from the October 15th total of 69,100 shares. Approximately 0.4% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 40,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.6 days.

Financial Institutions Stock Performance

Shares of Financial Institutions stock traded down $0.31 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $26.23. 5,517 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 49,911. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $25.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $405.78 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.35 and a beta of 0.90. Financial Institutions has a 1-year low of $16.29 and a 1-year high of $28.12.

Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.08. Financial Institutions had a return on equity of 11.32% and a net margin of 13.72%. The company had revenue of $50.12 million during the quarter. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Financial Institutions will post 3.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Financial Institutions

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Financial Institutions in the third quarter valued at approximately $513,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Financial Institutions by 147.3% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 63,213 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,221,000 after acquiring an additional 37,653 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Financial Institutions by 8.7% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 324,263 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,263,000 after acquiring an additional 25,865 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Financial Institutions by 2.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 784,928 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,772,000 after acquiring an additional 16,462 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC raised its stake in Financial Institutions by 150.4% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,438 shares of the bank’s stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 3,266 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.45% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on FISI shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Financial Institutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $25.00 price target (up from $20.00) on shares of Financial Institutions in a research report on Monday, July 29th.

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.