Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

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

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

Financial Institutions Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FISI opened at $25.55 on Friday. Financial Institutions has a 12-month low of $15.22 and a 12-month high of $27.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $24.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $394.67 million, a P/E ratio of 10.18 and a beta of 0.89.

Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 in the previous year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Financial Institutions will post 3.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Financial Institutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.70%. Financial Institutions’s payout ratio is currently 47.81%.

Institutional Trading of Financial Institutions

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Courier Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Financial Institutions by 55.8% in the 1st quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 338,686 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,374,000 after purchasing an additional 121,233 shares in the last quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Financial Institutions by 59.6% in the first quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 301,281 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,670,000 after buying an additional 112,481 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Financial Institutions by 27.7% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 298,398 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,615,000 after buying an additional 64,680 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Financial Institutions by 147.3% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 63,213 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,221,000 after acquiring an additional 37,653 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in Financial Institutions by 9.0% during 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 in the last quarter. 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.