Financial Institutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISI) Short Interest Up 196.9% in December

Financial Institutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISI) saw a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 123,200 shares, a growth of 196.9% from the November 30th total of 41,500 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 72,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Insider Activity at Financial Institutions

In other Financial Institutions news, Director Robert N. Latella bought 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.00 per share, with a total value of $100,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Financial Institutions by 32.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 18,108 shares of the bank’s stock worth $461,000 after purchasing an additional 4,461 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Financial Institutions by 48.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 44,798 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,141,000 after acquiring an additional 14,606 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Financial Institutions by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 354,685 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,036,000 after acquiring an additional 7,045 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in Financial Institutions in the third quarter valued at about $224,000. Finally, Zacks Investment Management purchased a new position in Financial Institutions in the third quarter worth about $4,706,000. 60.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Financial Institutions Stock Down 1.4 %

FISI stock traded down $0.37 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $27.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 99,731 shares, compared to its average volume of 58,671. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $26.63 and its 200-day moving average is $24.39. 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 has a 12 month low of $16.29 and a 12 month high of $29.34. The company has a market cap of $417.95 million, a PE ratio of 8.49 and a beta of 0.92.

Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.08. Financial Institutions had a return on equity of 11.32% and a net margin of 13.72%. The firm had revenue of $50.12 million for the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Financial Institutions will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Financial Institutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Financial Institutions’s payout ratio is presently 37.74%.

Financial Institutions Company 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.