Flushing Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FFIC) Short Interest Down 26.5% in March

Flushing Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FFIC - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 393,000 shares, a drop of 26.5% from the February 28th total of 534,900 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 354,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.1 days. Currently, 1.2% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Thomas Buonaiuto sold 6,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.92, for a total transaction of $87,856.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $417,781.12. This trade represents a 17.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 6.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Flushing Financial

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FFIC. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Flushing Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of Flushing Financial by 496.0% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,725 shares of the bank's stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 3,100 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Flushing Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $73,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Flushing Financial by 27.8% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 6,434 shares of the bank's stock valued at $92,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in Flushing Financial by 64.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,259 shares of the bank's stock worth $106,000 after buying an additional 2,836 shares in the last quarter. 67.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Flushing Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th.

Flushing Financial Price Performance

FFIC stock traded down $0.83 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $11.95. 109,070 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 234,437. Flushing Financial has a 52 week low of $10.74 and a 52 week high of $18.59. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $13.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $403.64 million, a PE ratio of -11.83 and a beta of 0.79.

Flushing Financial (NASDAQ:FFIC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by ($0.07). Flushing Financial had a positive return on equity of 3.25% and a negative net margin of 6.46%. As a group, analysts expect that Flushing Financial will post 1.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flushing Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.36%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Flushing Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -87.13%.

About Flushing Financial

Flushing Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Flushing Bank that provides banking products and services primarily to consumers, businesses, and governmental units. It offers various deposit products, including checking and savings accounts, money market accounts, non-interest bearing demand accounts, NOW accounts, and certificates of deposit.