Flushing Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FFIC) Short Interest Update

Flushing Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FFIC) saw a significant decrease in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 553,500 shares, a decrease of 34.8% from the October 15th total of 848,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 161,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days. Approximately 2.0% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Maria A. Grasso sold 4,500 shares of Flushing Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.49, for a total transaction of $60,705.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 83,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,122,880.62. The trade was a 5.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Astrid Burrowes sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.19, for a total value of $129,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $564,270.07. This trade represents a 18.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 22,500 shares of company stock valued at $344,925. 6.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Flushing Financial

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FFIC. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Flushing Financial in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of Flushing Financial by 58.7% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 36,853 shares of the bank’s stock worth $465,000 after purchasing an additional 13,636 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Flushing Financial by 183.4% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 81,322 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,025,000 after purchasing an additional 52,627 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Flushing Financial by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 54,223 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $684,000 after buying an additional 2,800 shares during the period. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System purchased a new stake in Flushing Financial in the 1st quarter worth approximately $264,000. 67.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Flushing Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Flushing Financial from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Flushing Financial from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler cut shares of Flushing Financial from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $15.00 to $16.50 in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Flushing Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.50.

Flushing Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ:FFIC traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $17.56. 82,296 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 180,795. Flushing Financial has a 1-year low of $10.74 and a 1-year high of $18.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $510.45 million, a PE ratio of 20.18 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $15.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.95.

Flushing Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. Flushing Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 101.15%.

About Flushing Financial

Flushing Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Flushing Bank that provides banking products and services primarily to consumers, businesses, and governmental units. It offers various deposit products, including checking and savings accounts, money market accounts, non-interest bearing demand accounts, NOW accounts, and certificates of deposit.