Flushing Financial (NASDAQ:FFIC) Lowered to “Sell” at StockNews.com

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

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on FFIC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Flushing Financial from $15.50 to $14.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Raymond James upped their price target on Flushing Financial from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Flushing Financial from $17.00 to $13.50 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $15.17.

Flushing Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FFIC opened at $11.37 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market cap of $330.53 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.37 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.81. Flushing Financial has a fifty-two week low of $9.28 and a fifty-two week high of $18.00.

Flushing Financial (NASDAQ:FFIC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $112.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $47.12 million. Flushing Financial had a return on equity of 4.31% and a net margin of 6.81%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.10 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Flushing Financial will post 0.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Flushing Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.74%. Flushing Financial’s payout ratio is presently 88.00%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Francis W. Korzekwinski sold 7,649 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.61, for a total transaction of $96,453.89. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 73,493 shares in the company, valued at $926,746.73. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Flushing Financial 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 value of $250,990.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $427,885.11. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Francis W. Korzekwinski sold 7,649 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.61, for a total transaction of $96,453.89. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 73,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $926,746.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Flushing Financial

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Flushing Financial during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Flushing Financial in the first quarter valued at $32,000. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust bought a new stake in Flushing Financial in the third quarter worth $149,000. EMC Capital Management raised its stake in Flushing Financial by 116.7% during the third quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 11,493 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $151,000 after purchasing an additional 6,189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in Flushing Financial by 72.4% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 15,944 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 6,697 shares during the last quarter. 67.10% of the stock is 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.