Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

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

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Financial Institutions from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Financial Institutions in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Financial Institutions currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.33.

Financial Institutions Price Performance

FISI stock traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $29.33. 190,032 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 153,023. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $27.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.53. Financial Institutions has a 12 month low of $20.97 and a 12 month high of $29.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $590.44 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.41 and a beta of 0.76.

Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The bank reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $64.87 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.46 million. Financial Institutions had a positive return on equity of 11.27% and a negative net margin of 2.93%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Financial Institutions will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Financial Institutions declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 22nd that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the bank to buy up to 0.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Financial Institutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. Financial Institutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -90.51%.

Institutional Trading of Financial Institutions

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FISI. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Financial Institutions in the third quarter worth about $497,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Financial Institutions by 3.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,095,428 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,796,000 after buying an additional 40,240 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Financial Institutions by 10.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 377,740 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,275,000 after acquiring an additional 34,906 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Financial Institutions by 94.6% during the third quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 459,798 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,507,000 after acquiring an additional 223,478 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PL Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Financial Institutions by 30.4% in the third quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,774,886 shares of the bank’s stock worth $48,277,000 after acquiring an additional 413,376 shares during the period. 60.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.