Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Boosts Stake in Financial Institutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISI)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Financial Institutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISI - Free Report) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 971,659 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 14,733 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 6.28% of Financial Institutions worth $26,516,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Financial Institutions in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its stake in Financial Institutions by 45.5% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 1,196 shares of the bank's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 374 shares in the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Financial Institutions in the 4th quarter worth about $87,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Financial Institutions by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 7,418 shares of the bank's stock worth $202,000 after acquiring an additional 964 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in shares of Financial Institutions by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 9,130 shares of the bank's stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141 shares in the last quarter. 60.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Financial Institutions Stock Up 3.7%

FISI traded up $0.97 during trading on Monday, hitting $27.23. The stock had a trading volume of 8,992 shares, compared to its average volume of 103,261. The company has a market capitalization of $547.60 million, a PE ratio of -18.79 and a beta of 0.70. Financial Institutions, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.81 and a twelve month high of $29.79. 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 50 day simple moving average of $24.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.22.

Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The bank reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $57.24 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $57.14 million. Financial Institutions had a negative net margin of 6.69% and a positive return on equity of 11.12%. On average, research analysts predict that Financial Institutions, Inc. will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Financial Institutions Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.55%. This is a boost from Financial Institutions's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Financial Institutions's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -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.