Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) Downgraded to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning.

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

Financial Institutions Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FISI opened at $27.06 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market capitalization of $418.73 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.51 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $26.44 and a 200 day moving average of $23.92. Financial Institutions has a 52 week low of $16.29 and a 52 week high of $29.34.

Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Financial Institutions will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Financial Institutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Financial Institutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Financial Institutions news, Director Robert N. Latella purchased 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $25.00 per share, with a total value of $100,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 16,000 shares in the company, valued at $400,000. This trade represents a 33.33 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Financial Institutions

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FISI. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Financial Institutions by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 124,428 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,169,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Financial Institutions by 1.9% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 59,725 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,521,000 after acquiring an additional 1,137 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Financial Institutions by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,276 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $237,000 after acquiring an additional 1,216 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Financial Institutions in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Financial Institutions by 119.3% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,572 shares of the bank’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 1,399 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.45% of the company’s stock.

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.