Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Lowers Stock Position in Financial Institutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISI)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lowered its position in Financial Institutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISI) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 452,869 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 483 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Financial Institutions were worth $12,359,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Financial Institutions by 0.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 124,428 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,169,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Financial Institutions by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 7,418 shares of the bank’s stock worth $202,000 after buying an additional 964 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Financial Institutions during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in Financial Institutions by 1.9% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 59,725 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,521,000 after buying an additional 1,137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Courier Capital LLC increased its holdings in Financial Institutions by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 352,126 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,610,000 after buying an additional 1,887 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on FISI. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Financial Institutions in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $33.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Financial Institutions from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price 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 research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $32.00 target price on shares of Financial Institutions in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th.

Financial Institutions Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FISI opened at $25.72 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $516.41 million, a PE ratio of -17.74 and a beta of 0.86. Financial Institutions, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.29 and a twelve month high of $29.79. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $27.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.56.

Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Financial Institutions, Inc. will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Financial Institutions Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Financial Institutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.82%. Financial Institutions’s payout ratio is presently -85.52%.

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.