Financial Institutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISI) Declares Dividend Increase – $0.31 Per Share

Financial Institutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISI) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 14th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.31 per share by the bank on Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Financial Institutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30.

Financial Institutions has raised its dividend by an average of 3.6% per year over the last three years. Financial Institutions has a payout ratio of 31.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Financial Institutions to earn $3.76 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 31.9%.

Financial Institutions Stock Performance

Shares of Financial Institutions stock opened at $28.89 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.10. Financial Institutions has a 12-month low of $16.29 and a 12-month high of $29.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Financial Institutions will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on FISI. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $33.00 price target on shares of Financial Institutions in a report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Financial Institutions from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $29.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Financial Institutions in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $33.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Financial Institutions from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday.

Insider Buying and Selling at Financial Institutions

In other news, Director Robert N. Latella purchased 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $25.00 per share, with a total value of $100,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $400,000. This represents a 33.33 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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.