Flushing Financial (NASDAQ:FFIC) Raised to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Flushing Financial (NASDAQ:FFIC) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Thursday.

Flushing Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Flushing Financial stock opened at $12.77 on Thursday. Flushing Financial has a 12 month low of $10.65 and a 12 month high of $18.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $431.33 million, a P/E ratio of -12.64 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.40.

Flushing Financial (NASDAQ:FFIC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The bank reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $58.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.38 million. Flushing Financial had a negative net margin of 6.46% and a positive return on equity of 3.25%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Flushing Financial will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flushing Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Flushing Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -61.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Flushing Financial

In other news, EVP Thomas Buonaiuto sold 6,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.92, for a total transaction of $87,856.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,336 shares in the company, valued at $417,781.12. This trade represents a 17.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 6.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Flushing Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FFIC. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Flushing Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in Flushing Financial by 496.0% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,725 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Flushing Financial in the 4th quarter worth $73,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Flushing Financial by 27.8% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 6,434 shares of the bank’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Flushing Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $141,000. 67.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.