Flushing Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FFIC) Short Interest Down 26.5% in March

Flushing Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FFIC) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 393,000 shares, a drop of 26.5% from the February 28th total of 534,900 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 354,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.1 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Flushing Financial news, EVP Thomas Buonaiuto sold 6,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.92, for a total transaction of $87,856.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,336 shares in the company, valued at $417,781.12. This trade represents a 17.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 6.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Flushing Financial

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FFIC. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Flushing Financial by 2.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 233,236 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,401,000 after buying an additional 4,876 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Flushing Financial by 64.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,259 shares of the bank’s stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 2,836 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of Flushing Financial by 18.7% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 19,661 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Flushing Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,936,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Flushing Financial during the third quarter worth $171,000. 67.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Flushing Financial Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of FFIC traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $12.75. 19,707 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 234,153. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $13.94 and its 200-day moving average is $14.98. Flushing Financial has a 1 year low of $10.74 and a 1 year high of $18.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $430.49 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.63 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27.

Flushing Financial (NASDAQ:FFIC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.21 by ($0.07). Flushing Financial had a positive return on equity of 3.25% and a negative net margin of 6.46%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Flushing Financial will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Flushing Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.90%. Flushing Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently -87.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Flushing Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th.

Flushing Financial Company Profile

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.