Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) Stock Rating Upgraded by Zacks Research

Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $34.00 price target on shares of Financial Institutions in a research report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Financial Institutions from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Financial Institutions in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Financial Institutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.67.

Financial Institutions Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:FISI opened at $32.03 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $29.56 and a 200-day moving average of $27.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a market cap of $644.76 million, a P/E ratio of -23.38 and a beta of 0.72. Financial Institutions has a twelve month low of $20.97 and a twelve month high of $33.00.

Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The bank reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter. Financial Institutions had a negative net margin of 2.93% and a positive return on equity of 11.10%. The business had revenue of $63.85 million for the quarter. As a group, analysts anticipate that Financial Institutions will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Financial Institutions

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Financial Institutions by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,031,395 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,744,000 after purchasing an additional 106,110 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Financial Institutions by 27.9% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 160,338 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,002,000 after purchasing an additional 35,015 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Financial Institutions in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,179,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Financial Institutions in the 1st quarter worth approximately $413,000. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Financial Institutions by 132.8% during the 1st quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 348,478 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,698,000 after buying an additional 198,820 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.45% of the company’s stock.

Financial Institutions Company Profile

Financial Institutions, Inc (NASDAQ: FISI) is a non-diversified, closed-end management investment company that seeks to provide tax-advantaged income to shareholders. The company invests primarily in investment-grade municipal obligations issued by states, municipalities and government agencies across the United States. By focusing on high-credit-quality bonds, Financial Institutions aims to deliver current income that is exempt from federal income tax.

In constructing its portfolio, the company may also utilize money market instruments and repurchase agreements to manage liquidity and facilitate efficient settlement.