Flushing Financial (NASDAQ:FFIC) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Flushing Financial (NASDAQ:FFIC) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Thursday morning.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Raymond James upped their price target on Flushing Financial from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, January 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Flushing Financial from $15.50 to $14.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of Flushing Financial from $17.00 to $13.50 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $15.17.

Flushing Financial Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ FFIC opened at $11.37 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Flushing Financial has a 1 year low of $9.28 and a 1 year high of $18.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $330.53 million, a P/E ratio of 11.37 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $12.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $13.81.

Flushing Financial (NASDAQ:FFIC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $112.58 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.12 million. Flushing Financial had a net margin of 6.81% and a return on equity of 4.31%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.10 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Flushing Financial will post 0.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flushing Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.74%. Flushing Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.00%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Thomas Buonaiuto sold 19,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.21, for a total transaction of $250,990.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 32,391 shares in the company, valued at $427,885.11. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Thomas Buonaiuto sold 19,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.21, for a total transaction of $250,990.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $427,885.11. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Francis W. Korzekwinski sold 7,649 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.61, for a total transaction of $96,453.89. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 73,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $926,746.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Flushing Financial by 290.9% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 114,404 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,443,000 after purchasing an additional 85,139 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its stake in Flushing Financial by 130.4% in the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 57,956 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $761,000 after buying an additional 32,805 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Flushing Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $307,000. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Flushing Financial during the fourth quarter worth $287,000. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Flushing Financial by 36.3% in the third quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 57,366 shares of the bank’s stock worth $753,000 after acquiring an additional 15,291 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.10% of the company’s stock.

About Flushing Financial

Flushing Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Flushing Bank that provides banking products and services primarily to consumers, businesses, and governmental units. It offers various deposit products, including checking and savings accounts, money market accounts, non-interest bearing demand accounts, NOW accounts, and certificates of deposit.