Financial Institutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISI) Plans $0.30 Quarterly Dividend

Financial Institutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISI) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, November 15th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.30 per share by the bank on Tuesday, January 2nd. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.83%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 13th.

Financial Institutions has increased its dividend by an average of 5.1% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 13 consecutive years. Financial Institutions has a dividend payout ratio of 41.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Financial Institutions to earn $2.83 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 42.4%.

Financial Institutions Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FISI opened at $17.58 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.95. Financial Institutions has a twelve month low of $13.84 and a twelve month high of $25.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market capitalization of $270.73 million, a PE ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 0.89.

Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 26th. The bank reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $52.16 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $52.96 million. Financial Institutions had a net margin of 16.89% and a return on equity of 13.19%. On average, equities analysts predict that Financial Institutions will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on Financial Institutions in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Financial Institutions

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp lifted its position in Financial Institutions by 30.6% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 494,212 shares of the bank’s stock worth $15,002,000 after acquiring an additional 115,703 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Financial Institutions by 69.4% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 233,813 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,696,000 after purchasing an additional 95,779 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in Financial Institutions by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,356,722 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,158,000 after buying an additional 94,891 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Financial Institutions by 23.4% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 334,400 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,263,000 after buying an additional 63,400 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Financial Institutions by 146.5% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 96,625 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,514,000 after buying an additional 57,422 shares during the last quarter. 63.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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 offers 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.