Piper Sandler Initiates Coverage on Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI)

Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) in a research report report published on Friday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm issued an overweight rating and a $33.00 target price on the bank’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on FISI. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Financial Institutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Financial Institutions from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Financial Institutions Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ FISI opened at $27.12 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $419.65 million, a P/E ratio of 8.53 and a beta of 0.92. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $26.51 and its 200 day moving average is $24.09. Financial Institutions has a 52 week low of $16.29 and a 52 week high of $29.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $50.12 million for the quarter. Financial Institutions had a net margin of 13.72% and a return on equity of 11.32%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Financial Institutions will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Financial Institutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Financial Institutions’s dividend payout ratio is 37.74%.

Insider Activity at Financial Institutions

In other news, Director Robert N. Latella acquired 4,000 shares of Financial Institutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $25.00 per share, for a total transaction of $100,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $400,000. The trade was a 33.33 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Financial Institutions

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FISI. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Financial Institutions by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 124,428 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,169,000 after buying an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Financial Institutions by 1.9% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 59,725 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,521,000 after acquiring an additional 1,137 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Financial Institutions by 11.0% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,276 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $237,000 after acquiring an additional 1,216 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Financial Institutions during the second quarter worth $25,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of Financial Institutions by 119.3% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,572 shares of the bank’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 1,399 shares during the last quarter. 60.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.