227,658 Shares in Financial Institutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISI) Purchased by Azora Capital LP

Azora Capital LP acquired a new position in Financial Institutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 227,658 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $6,213,000. Azora Capital LP owned about 1.47% of Financial Institutions as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in FISI. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Financial Institutions during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $318,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Financial Institutions by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 112,129 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,060,000 after purchasing an additional 14,570 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in Financial Institutions by 1,409.9% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 231,010 shares of the bank's stock worth $6,304,000 after acquiring an additional 215,710 shares during the period. PL Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Financial Institutions by 666.8% in the fourth quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 13,583,625 shares of the bank's stock worth $370,697,000 after buying an additional 11,812,109 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Financial Institutions by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 69,862 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,907,000 after purchasing an additional 3,412 shares in the last quarter. 60.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on FISI shares. Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of Financial Institutions in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Financial Institutions from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $29.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Financial Institutions from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday.

Financial Institutions Stock Down 1.2 %

FISI traded down $0.33 on Friday, hitting $26.20. The company had a trading volume of 50,997 shares, compared to its average volume of 103,284. Financial Institutions, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.81 and a 12-month high of $29.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $526.88 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.07 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $24.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.21.

Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The bank reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.07. Financial Institutions had a negative net margin of 6.69% and a positive return on equity of 11.12%. The firm had revenue of $57.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $57.14 million. Analysts predict that Financial Institutions, Inc. will post 3.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Financial Institutions Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Financial Institutions's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.73%. Financial Institutions's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -165.33%.

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.