Financial Institutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISI) Increases Dividend to $0.31 Per Share

Financial Institutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISI - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 12th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of 0.31 per share by the bank on Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.23%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Financial Institutions's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30.

Financial Institutions has raised its dividend payment by an average of 3.6% annually over the last three years. Financial Institutions has a dividend payout ratio of 32.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Financial Institutions to earn $3.76 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.24 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 33.0%.

Financial Institutions Stock Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ FISI traded up $0.43 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $29.32. 28,709 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 139,688. Financial Institutions has a 12 month low of $16.29 and a 12 month high of $29.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $453.50 million, a PE ratio of -20.18 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50 day moving average of $27.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.11.

Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $0.54 EPS 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 will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Financial Institutions in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $33.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Financial Institutions from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Financial Institutions from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $29.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $33.00 price target on shares of Financial Institutions in a research report on Friday, January 31st.

Insider Transactions at Financial Institutions

In other news, Director Robert N. Latella bought 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $25.00 per share, for a total transaction of $100,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 16,000 shares in the company, valued at $400,000. This represents a 33.33 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.68% of the company's stock.

About Financial Institutions

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.