Flushing Financial (NASDAQ:FFIC) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

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

Flushing Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ:FFIC opened at $13.09 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $14.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.97. Flushing Financial has a 1-year low of $10.74 and a 1-year high of $18.59. The firm has a market cap of $442.14 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.96 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

Flushing Financial (NASDAQ:FFIC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.21 by ($0.07). Flushing Financial had a positive return on equity of 3.25% and a negative net margin of 6.46%. Equities research analysts forecast that Flushing Financial will post 1.2 EPS for the current year.

Flushing Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Flushing Financial’s payout ratio is presently -87.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Flushing Financial

In other news, EVP Thomas Buonaiuto sold 6,800 shares of Flushing Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.92, for a total value of $87,856.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,336 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $417,781.12. The trade was a 17.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 6.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Flushing Financial

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Flushing Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in Flushing Financial by 496.0% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,725 shares of the bank’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 3,100 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Flushing Financial in the 4th quarter worth $73,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Flushing Financial by 27.8% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 6,434 shares of the bank’s stock worth $92,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Flushing Financial by 64.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,259 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $106,000 after acquiring an additional 2,836 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.10% of the company’s stock.

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.