StockNews.com Upgrades Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) to Buy

Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $25.00 price target (up previously from $20.00) on shares of Financial Institutions in a research note on Monday, July 29th.

Financial Institutions Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FISI opened at $26.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.34. Financial Institutions has a 12 month low of $15.22 and a 12 month high of $27.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $407.80 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.52 and a beta of 0.89.

Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.92. The company had revenue of $102.80 million for the quarter. Financial Institutions had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 12.06%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. Analysts expect that Financial Institutions will post 3.64 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Financial Institutions

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FISI. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Financial Institutions by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 324,263 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,263,000 after purchasing an additional 25,865 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Financial Institutions by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 784,928 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,772,000 after buying an additional 16,462 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Financial Institutions by 8.1% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 58,600 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,103,000 after acquiring an additional 4,375 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Financial Institutions by 150.4% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,438 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $105,000 after acquiring an additional 3,266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Financial Institutions by 35.6% in the fourth quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 31,260 shares of the bank’s stock worth $666,000 after acquiring an additional 8,206 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.45% of the company’s stock.

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.