Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) Raised to "Buy" at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Friday.

Separately, Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $32.00 price objective on shares of Financial Institutions in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th.

Financial Institutions Stock Up 1.0%

NASDAQ:FISI traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $26.05. The company had a trading volume of 74,178 shares, compared to its average volume of 106,124. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Financial Institutions has a 1 year low of $16.81 and a 1 year high of $29.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $523.87 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.97 and a beta of 0.72.

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

Financial Institutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.76%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Financial Institutions's payout ratio is -165.33%.

Institutional Trading of Financial Institutions

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in Financial Institutions by 5.0% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 24,489 shares of the bank's stock valued at $611,000 after buying an additional 1,157 shares during the last quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp increased its holdings in Financial Institutions by 11.7% in the first quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 111,720 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,789,000 after buying an additional 11,720 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new stake in Financial Institutions in the first quarter valued at about $375,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Financial Institutions by 7.1% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 74,841 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,868,000 after buying an additional 4,979 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in Financial Institutions in the first quarter valued at about $400,000. 60.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Financial Institutions Company 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.