EMC Capital Management Decreases Stake in Financial Institutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISI)

EMC Capital Management lessened its holdings in Financial Institutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISI) by 18.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,080 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,629 shares during the quarter. EMC Capital Management’s holdings in Financial Institutions were worth $193,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. PL Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Financial Institutions by 408.0% in the third quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,771,516 shares of the bank’s stock worth $45,121,000 after purchasing an additional 1,422,765 shares during the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management purchased a new position in shares of Financial Institutions in the 3rd quarter worth about $4,706,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new position in Financial Institutions during the third quarter valued at about $1,364,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Financial Institutions by 147.3% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 63,213 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,221,000 after buying an additional 37,653 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can bought a new stake in Financial Institutions in the second quarter worth about $466,000. 60.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on FISI shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Financial Institutions from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler began coverage on Financial Institutions in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $33.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com cut Financial Institutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert N. Latella bought 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $25.00 per share, for a total transaction of $100,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 16,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $400,000. This trade represents a 33.33 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Financial Institutions Stock Performance

NASDAQ FISI opened at $27.16 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $420.17 million, a P/E ratio of 8.54 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company’s 50 day moving average is $27.10 and its 200-day moving average is $25.74. Financial Institutions, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.29 and a 12-month high of $29.34.

Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) last released 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 net margin of 13.72% and a return on equity of 11.32%. Sell-side analysts predict that Financial Institutions, Inc. will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Financial Institutions Announces Dividend

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

Financial Institutions 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.