Financial Institutions, Inc. (FISI) To Go Ex-Dividend on March 14th

Financial Institutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISI) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 12th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of 0.31 per share by the bank on Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.79%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a 3.3% increase from Financial Institutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30.

Financial Institutions has increased its dividend payment by an average of 3.6% per year over the last three years. Financial Institutions has a payout ratio of 32.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Financial Institutions to earn $3.76 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.24 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 33.0%.

Financial Institutions Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FISI opened at $25.87 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $400.31 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.84 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $27.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.55. Financial Institutions has a fifty-two week low of $16.29 and a fifty-two week high of $29.79.

Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.20). Financial Institutions had a negative net margin of 6.69% and a positive return on equity of 11.12%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Financial Institutions will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Financial Institutions

In other news, Director Robert N. Latella purchased 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $25.00 per share, for a total transaction of $100,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 16,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $400,000. This trade represents a 33.33 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 2.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on FISI shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Financial Institutions from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $29.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Financial Institutions from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Financial Institutions in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $33.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $32.00 price target on shares of Financial Institutions in a research report on Tuesday.

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.