Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Financial Institutions from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Financial Institutions Trading Down 4.9 %

Shares of Financial Institutions stock opened at $27.06 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Financial Institutions has a twelve month low of $16.29 and a twelve month high of $29.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $418.73 million, a PE ratio of 8.51 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $26.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.92.

Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $50.12 million for the quarter. Financial Institutions had a return on equity of 11.32% and a net margin of 13.72%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Financial Institutions will post 3.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Financial Institutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Financial Institutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert N. Latella bought 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $25.00 per share, with a total value of $100,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 16,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $400,000. This trade represents a 33.33 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 2.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Financial Institutions

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Financial Institutions in the third quarter valued at approximately $513,000. Zacks Investment Management acquired a new stake in shares of Financial Institutions in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,706,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new position in shares of Financial Institutions during the third quarter worth $1,364,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 37,653 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Financial Institutions by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 324,263 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,263,000 after buying an additional 25,865 shares during the last quarter. 60.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Financial Institutions

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.