Fourthstone LLC Buys 297,904 Shares of Financial Institutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISI)

Fourthstone LLC grew its stake in Financial Institutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISI) by 1,463.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 318,254 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 297,904 shares during the quarter. Financial Institutions comprises about 1.7% of Fourthstone LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Fourthstone LLC owned about 2.06% of Financial Institutions worth $8,685,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FISI. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Financial Institutions in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of Financial Institutions by 45.5% during the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 1,196 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 374 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Financial Institutions in the 4th quarter worth approximately $87,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Financial Institutions by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 7,418 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $202,000 after purchasing an additional 964 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Financial Institutions during the third quarter valued at approximately $224,000. 60.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on FISI shares. StockNews.com upgraded Financial Institutions from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $32.00 price target on shares of Financial Institutions in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Financial Institutions from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $29.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Financial Institutions in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $33.00 target price for the company.

Financial Institutions Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FISI opened at $22.46 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $25.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company has a market capitalization of $450.95 million, a PE ratio of -15.49 and a beta of 0.68. Financial Institutions, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.29 and a 1-year high of $29.79.

Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $0.54 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Financial Institutions, Inc. will post 3.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Financial Institutions Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.52%. This is an increase from Financial Institutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Financial Institutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -85.52%.

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.