Alliancebernstein L.P. Purchases 215,710 Shares of Financial Institutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISI)

Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of Financial Institutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISI) by 1,409.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 231,010 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 215,710 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 1.49% of Financial Institutions worth $6,304,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Financial Institutions during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management lifted its holdings in Financial Institutions by 45.5% in the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 1,196 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 374 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Financial Institutions by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 7,418 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $202,000 after acquiring an additional 964 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in Financial Institutions during the 3rd quarter worth $224,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Financial Institutions during the 4th quarter valued at $318,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FISI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Financial Institutions in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Financial Institutions from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Financial Institutions from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Financial Institutions in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $33.00 price objective for the company.

Financial Institutions Stock Performance

Shares of FISI stock opened at $21.43 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. Financial Institutions, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.29 and a 52 week high of $29.79. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $26.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.35. The company has a market capitalization of $430.27 million, a P/E ratio of -14.78 and a beta of 0.68.

Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.20). Financial Institutions had a positive return on equity of 11.12% and a negative net margin of 6.69%. On average, analysts expect that Financial Institutions, Inc. will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Financial Institutions Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is a boost from Financial Institutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Financial Institutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently -85.52%.

Financial Institutions 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.