Financial Institutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISI) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Financial Institutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISI) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $35.3333.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on FISI shares. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $36.00 target price (up from $34.00) on shares of Financial Institutions in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Financial Institutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Financial Institutions to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Financial Institutions in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Financial Institutions from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd.

Financial Institutions Price Performance

FISI opened at $35.14 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $32.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $707.40 million, a PE ratio of 9.73 and a beta of 0.70. Financial Institutions has a 52 week low of $20.97 and a 52 week high of $35.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The bank reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $64.12 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.99 million. Financial Institutions had a return on equity of 12.75% and a net margin of 19.81%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Financial Institutions will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Financial Institutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Financial Institutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.35%.

Institutional Trading of Financial Institutions

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FISI. PL Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Financial Institutions by 30.4% in the third quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,774,886 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $48,277,000 after buying an additional 413,376 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Financial Institutions by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,095,428 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,796,000 after acquiring an additional 40,240 shares in the last quarter. Fourthstone LLC lifted its position in Financial Institutions by 54.8% in the 2nd quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 846,661 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $21,742,000 after acquiring an additional 299,574 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its stake in Financial Institutions by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 778,821 shares of the bank’s stock worth $20,000,000 after purchasing an additional 3,650 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Financial Institutions by 34.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 736,825 shares of the bank’s stock worth $20,042,000 after purchasing an additional 187,298 shares in the last quarter. 60.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.