Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) 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 research note published on Friday.

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

Financial Institutions Stock Performance

Shares of FISI stock opened at $25.57 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Financial Institutions has a 12-month low of $15.22 and a 12-month high of $27.75. The company has a market cap of $395.06 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.19 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.06.

Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.92. Financial Institutions had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 13.95%. The company had revenue of $102.80 million during the quarter. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Financial Institutions will post 3.64 EPS for the current year.

Financial Institutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Financial Institutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.81%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Financial Institutions

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FISI. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Financial Institutions by 2.1% in 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 last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Financial Institutions by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 58,600 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,103,000 after purchasing an additional 4,375 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Financial Institutions by 150.4% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,438 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $105,000 after purchasing an additional 3,266 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Financial Institutions by 27.7% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 298,398 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,615,000 after purchasing an additional 64,680 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Financial Institutions by 35.6% during the fourth quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 31,260 shares of the bank’s stock worth $666,000 after buying an additional 8,206 shares in 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.