Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Acquires 365,924 Shares of Financial Institutions, Inc. $FISI

Key Points

• Adage Capital Partners increased its stake in Financial Institutions, Inc. by 89.4%, owning approximately 775,171 shares valued at about $19.35 million.
• Financial Institutions, Inc. reported earnings of $0.85 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.31 to be paid on October 2nd.
• Analysts recently downgraded the company's stock rating from "buy" to "hold", reflecting a consensus price target of $33.00, while the stock is currently trading around $27.45.

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its holdings in Financial Institutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISI - Free Report) by 89.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 775,171 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 365,924 shares during the quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned about 3.85% of Financial Institutions worth $19,348,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. PL Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Financial Institutions by 153.3% during the first quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,261,010 shares of the bank's stock valued at $31,475,000 after buying an additional 763,259 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in shares of Financial Institutions during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $18,294,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Financial Institutions by 132.8% during the first quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 348,478 shares of the bank's stock valued at $8,698,000 after purchasing an additional 198,820 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Financial Institutions during the fourth quarter valued at $4,133,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Financial Institutions by 11.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,031,395 shares of the bank's stock worth $25,744,000 after acquiring an additional 106,110 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.45% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Financial Institutions from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $33.00.

Financial Institutions Stock Performance

Shares of FISI traded up $0.04 on Thursday, reaching $27.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 105,998 shares, compared to its average volume of 121,913. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $26.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $548.34 million, a P/E ratio of -17.92 and a beta of 0.74. Financial Institutions, Inc. has a 12-month low of $20.97 and a 12-month high of $29.78.

Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.07. Financial Institutions had a positive return on equity of 10.44% and a negative net margin of 4.96%.The company had revenue of $59.74 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $59.86 million. Research analysts forecast that Financial Institutions, Inc. will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Financial Institutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Financial Institutions's dividend payout ratio is currently -81.58%.

About Financial Institutions

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.