Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Financial Institutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISI)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $25.98, but opened at $26.60. Financial Institutions shares last traded at $26.22, with a volume of 10,776 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FISI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Financial Institutions in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Financial Institutions from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Financial Institutions from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $29.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Financial Institutions in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $33.00 target price on the stock.

Financial Institutions Stock Down 1.2 %

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $27.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $509.38 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.50 and a beta of 0.86. 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 (NASDAQ:FISI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $0.54 EPS 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Financial Institutions, Inc. will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Financial Institutions Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This is a boost from Financial Institutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.89%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Financial Institutions’s payout ratio is currently -85.52%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Financial Institutions

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its stake in Financial Institutions by 45.5% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 1,196 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 374 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Financial Institutions by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 8,716 shares of the bank’s stock worth $238,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Financial Institutions by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 124,428 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,169,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Financial Institutions by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 60,320 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,646,000 after purchasing an additional 595 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Financial Institutions by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 7,418 shares of the bank’s stock worth $202,000 after purchasing an additional 964 shares in the last quarter. 60.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.