Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Saturday morning.

Financial Institutions Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of Financial Institutions stock opened at $26.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. Financial Institutions has a 52-week low of $20.97 and a 52-week high of $29.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $532.11 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.41 and a beta of 0.71. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $26.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.03.

Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.07. Financial Institutions had a negative net margin of 4.96% and a positive return on equity of 10.67%. The firm had revenue of $59.74 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.86 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Financial Institutions will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Financial Institutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.69%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. Financial Institutions’s dividend payout ratio is -81.58%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. PL Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Financial Institutions by 153.3% in the first quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,261,010 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,475,000 after acquiring an additional 763,259 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in Financial Institutions in the fourth quarter worth $18,294,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Financial Institutions in the fourth quarter worth $11,168,000. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Financial Institutions in the fourth quarter worth $8,320,000. Finally, Fourthstone LLC lifted its stake in Financial Institutions by 1,463.9% in the fourth quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 318,254 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,685,000 after acquiring an additional 297,904 shares during the period. 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.