Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) Raised to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Sunday.

FISI has been the subject of several other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Financial Institutions from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $34.00 price target on shares of Financial Institutions in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Financial Institutions in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Financial Institutions to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.67.

Financial Institutions Stock Down 1.2%

FISI stock opened at $31.60 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $30.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.81. Financial Institutions has a 12 month low of $20.97 and a 12 month high of $33.00. The company has a market cap of $636.14 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.07 and a beta of 0.72.

Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The bank reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Financial Institutions had a positive return on equity of 11.10% and a negative net margin of 2.93%.The business had revenue of $63.85 million during the quarter. As a group, analysts forecast that Financial Institutions will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Financial Institutions declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, September 22nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to repurchase up to 0.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Financial Institutions

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PL Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Financial Institutions by 30.4% in the third quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,774,886 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $48,277,000 after buying an additional 413,376 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its holdings in Financial Institutions by 89.4% during the 1st quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 775,171 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $19,348,000 after acquiring an additional 365,924 shares during the period. Fourthstone LLC grew its position in Financial Institutions by 54.8% in the 2nd quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 846,661 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $21,742,000 after acquiring an additional 299,574 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Financial Institutions during the second quarter worth about $6,069,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Financial Institutions by 34.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 736,825 shares of the bank’s stock worth $20,042,000 after purchasing an additional 187,298 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.45% of the company’s stock.

About Financial Institutions

Financial Institutions, Inc (NASDAQ: FISI) is a non-diversified, closed-end management investment company that seeks to provide tax-advantaged income to shareholders. The company invests primarily in investment-grade municipal obligations issued by states, municipalities and government agencies across the United States. By focusing on high-credit-quality bonds, Financial Institutions aims to deliver current income that is exempt from federal income tax.

In constructing its portfolio, the company may also utilize money market instruments and repurchase agreements to manage liquidity and facilitate efficient settlement.