Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 6,158 Shares of Flushing Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FFIC)

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Flushing Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FFIC) by 0.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,565,212 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,158 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 5.42% of Flushing Financial worth $20,551,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Flushing Financial by 13.0% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 281,767 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,700,000 after purchasing an additional 32,419 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of Flushing Financial by 39.4% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 13,711 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $180,000 after purchasing an additional 3,878 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning bought a new position in shares of Flushing Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $158,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Flushing Financial by 0.9% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 191,122 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,509,000 after purchasing an additional 1,623 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its stake in shares of Flushing Financial by 130.4% during the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 57,956 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $761,000 after purchasing an additional 32,805 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on FFIC. DA Davidson cut their price target on shares of Flushing Financial from $17.00 to $13.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Flushing Financial from $15.50 to $14.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Flushing Financial from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.50.

Insider Transactions at Flushing Financial

In other news, EVP Thomas Buonaiuto sold 19,000 shares of Flushing Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.21, for a total transaction of $250,990.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 32,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $427,885.11. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Thomas Buonaiuto sold 19,000 shares of Flushing Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.21, for a total transaction of $250,990.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 32,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $427,885.11. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Francis W. Korzekwinski sold 7,649 shares of Flushing Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.61, for a total transaction of $96,453.89. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 73,493 shares in the company, valued at approximately $926,746.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Flushing Financial Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of FFIC stock opened at $11.09 on Friday. Flushing Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $9.28 and a 12-month high of $18.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $12.60 and its 200 day moving average is $13.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $322.39 million, a P/E ratio of 10.56 and a beta of 0.73.

Flushing Financial (NASDAQ:FFIC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.02. Flushing Financial had a net margin of 7.37% and a return on equity of 4.11%. The company had revenue of $53.49 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.84 million. Research analysts expect that Flushing Financial Co. will post 0.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Flushing Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.94%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. Flushing Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.81%.

Flushing Financial Profile

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.