Financial Institutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISI) Short Interest Up 30.4% in March

Financial Institutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISI - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 484,000 shares, an increase of 30.4% from the February 28th total of 371,300 shares. Currently, 3.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 171,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Financial Institutions Stock Performance

Shares of FISI traded down $0.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $22.12. 338,948 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 91,060. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Financial Institutions has a 52 week low of $16.29 and a 52 week high of $29.79. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $26.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.55. The firm has a market cap of $444.13 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.26 and a beta of 0.86.

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 positive return on equity of 11.12% and a negative net margin of 6.69%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Financial Institutions will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

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Financial Institutions Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.61%. This is an increase from Financial Institutions's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Financial Institutions's dividend payout ratio is presently -85.52%.

Institutional Trading of Financial Institutions

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in Financial Institutions during the fourth quarter worth $18,294,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of Financial Institutions in the 4th quarter valued at $1,258,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Financial Institutions during the 4th quarter valued at $440,000. Palisades Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in Financial Institutions by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Palisades Investment Partners LLC now owns 138,527 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,780,000 after purchasing an additional 11,752 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new position in Financial Institutions in the fourth quarter valued at about $388,000. Institutional investors own 60.45% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on FISI. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $32.00 price objective on shares of Financial Institutions in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Financial Institutions in a 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Financial Institutions from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the company from $29.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd.

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.