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

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

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

Financial Institutions Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of Financial Institutions stock opened at $25.26 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.45. Financial Institutions has a 52-week low of $15.22 and a 52-week high of $27.75. The firm has a market cap of $390.19 million, a PE ratio of 10.06 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86.

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

Financial Institutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.75%. Financial Institutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.81%.

Institutional Trading of Financial Institutions

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Financial Institutions by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 324,263 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,263,000 after purchasing an additional 25,865 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Financial Institutions by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 784,928 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,772,000 after acquiring an additional 16,462 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Financial Institutions by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 58,600 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,103,000 after acquiring an additional 4,375 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Financial Institutions by 150.4% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,438 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $105,000 after acquiring an additional 3,266 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd lifted its position in shares of Financial Institutions by 35.6% during the 4th quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 31,260 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $666,000 after acquiring an additional 8,206 shares during the period. 60.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.