Short Interest in Financial Institutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISI) Increases By 12.7%

Financial Institutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISI) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 107,700 shares, a growth of 12.7% from the August 31st total of 95,600 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 57,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days. Currently, 0.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective (up previously from $20.00) on shares of Financial Institutions in a research note on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Financial Institutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 21st.

Financial Institutions Trading Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ FISI opened at $25.47 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $393.44 million, a PE ratio of 10.15 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $24.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Financial Institutions has a 12 month low of $15.22 and a 12 month high of $27.75.

Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) last announced its 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. Financial Institutions had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 13.95%. The business had revenue of $102.80 million for the quarter. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Financial Institutions will post 3.64 EPS for the current year.

Financial Institutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Financial Institutions’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.81%.

Institutional Trading of Financial Institutions

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FISI. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Financial Institutions by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 18,875 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $402,000 after buying an additional 3,612 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd lifted its position in shares of Financial Institutions by 35.6% during the 4th quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 31,260 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $666,000 after acquiring an additional 8,206 shares during the period. Courier Capital LLC boosted its stake in Financial Institutions by 55.8% during the first quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 338,686 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,374,000 after acquiring an additional 121,233 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Financial Institutions by 9.2% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,811 shares of the bank’s stock worth $166,000 after purchasing an additional 742 shares during the period. Finally, PL Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Financial Institutions by 59.6% in the first quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 301,281 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,670,000 after purchasing an additional 112,481 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.45% of the company’s stock.

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.