PL Capital Advisors LLC Raises Position in Financial Institutions, Inc. $FISI

PL Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Financial Institutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISI) by 30.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,774,886 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 413,376 shares during the period. Financial Institutions comprises 16.0% of PL Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. PL Capital Advisors LLC owned about 0.09% of Financial Institutions worth $48,277,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of FISI. Fourthstone LLC grew its position in Financial Institutions by 54.8% during the 2nd quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 846,661 shares of the bank’s stock worth $21,742,000 after acquiring an additional 299,574 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Financial Institutions in the second quarter worth $6,069,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in shares of Financial Institutions by 412.7% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 53,366 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,451,000 after purchasing an additional 42,957 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Financial Institutions by 143.9% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 52,028 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,336,000 after buying an additional 30,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Financial Institutions by 6.2% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 477,865 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,274,000 after buying an additional 27,770 shares in the last quarter. 60.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on FISI shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Financial Institutions in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research raised shares of Financial Institutions to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Financial Institutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Financial Institutions from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $36.00 price objective (up previously from $34.00) on shares of Financial Institutions in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.33.

Financial Institutions Price Performance

Shares of FISI stock opened at $34.27 on Wednesday. Financial Institutions, Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.97 and a 52-week high of $34.81. The stock has a market cap of $689.86 million, a PE ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $31.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.88.

Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The bank reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $64.12 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $62.99 million. Financial Institutions had a net margin of 19.81% and a return on equity of 12.75%. As a group, analysts forecast that Financial Institutions, Inc. will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Financial Institutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. Financial Institutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.35%.

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.