Flushing Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:FFIC) Short Interest Up 40.7% in March
by Renee Jackson · The Cerbat GemFlushing Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:FFIC – Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 938,628 shares, a growth of 40.7% from the March 15th total of 667,060 shares. Approximately 2.9% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 254,642 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.7 days.
Flushing Financial Trading Down 1.7%
Shares of FFIC stock traded down $0.27 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $15.87. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 202,559 shares, compared to its average volume of 234,623. The stock has a market capitalization of $537.68 million, a P/E ratio of 29.39 and a beta of 0.79. Flushing Financial has a one year low of $11.13 and a one year high of $17.79. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $15.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.
Flushing Financial (NASDAQ:FFIC – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The bank reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $58.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.27 million. Flushing Financial had a return on equity of 5.95% and a net margin of 3.86%. Equities research analysts expect that Flushing Financial will post 1.2 EPS for the current year.
Flushing Financial Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.5%. Flushing Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 162.96%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Flushing Financial news, EVP Thomas Buonaiuto sold 1,570 shares of Flushing Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.20, for a total value of $25,434.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 35,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $574,597.80. The trade was a 4.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 5.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Flushing Financial
A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in Flushing Financial by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 22,803 shares of the bank’s stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 2,444 shares in the last quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury bought a new position in Flushing Financial in the fourth quarter worth $425,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Flushing Financial by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 140,908 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,138,000 after purchasing an additional 13,560 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Flushing Financial by 84.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,293,397 shares of the bank’s stock worth $49,961,000 after purchasing an additional 1,506,404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Flushing Financial in the fourth quarter worth $82,000. Institutional investors own 67.10% of the company’s stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial lowered Flushing Financial from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Flushing Financial from $14.50 to $16.80 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Flushing Financial from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Flushing Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.80.
View Our Latest Analysis on FFIC
Flushing Financial Company Profile
Flushing Financial Corporation is the bank holding company for Flushing Bank, a community-oriented financial institution headquartered in Flushing, Queens, New York. Tracing its origins to the founding of Flushing Bank in 1929, the holding company was established in 2006 to support the bank’s growth and diversification. Flushing Financial operates under the Nasdaq ticker FFIC, delivering a full suite of banking services to personal, commercial and institutional customers.
The company’s primary business activities include deposit-taking, consumer and commercial lending, mortgage banking and treasury management.