Flushing Financial (NASDAQ:FFIC) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

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

Flushing Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FFIC opened at $13.04 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94. Flushing Financial has a one year low of $10.74 and a one year high of $18.59. The firm has a market cap of $440.45 million, a PE ratio of -12.91 and a beta of 0.79.

Flushing Financial (NASDAQ:FFIC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.14 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Flushing Financial will post 1.2 EPS for the current year.

Flushing Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.75%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Flushing Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -87.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Flushing Financial

In other Flushing Financial news, EVP Thomas Buonaiuto sold 6,800 shares of the company’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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 32,336 shares in the company, valued at $417,781.12. This represents a 17.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 6.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Flushing Financial by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,755,762 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,072,000 after purchasing an additional 36,845 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Flushing Financial by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,734,753 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $24,772,000 after buying an additional 214,195 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Flushing Financial by 153.4% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 825,708 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $11,791,000 after buying an additional 499,821 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Flushing Financial by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 694,216 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,124,000 after buying an additional 5,128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Flushing Financial by 23.3% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 617,687 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,821,000 after acquiring an additional 116,819 shares in the last quarter. 67.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Flushing Financial Company Profile

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.