Hennessy Advisors Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Flushing Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FFIC)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Flushing Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FFIC) by 42.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 80,000 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 60,000 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Flushing Financial were worth $1,052,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FFIC. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Flushing Financial during the 1st quarter worth $3,385,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Flushing Financial by 290.9% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 114,404 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,443,000 after acquiring an additional 85,139 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Flushing Financial by 183.4% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 81,322 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,025,000 after purchasing an additional 52,627 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Flushing Financial in the first quarter valued at about $385,000. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System purchased a new stake in Flushing Financial in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $264,000. 67.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Flushing Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FFIC opened at $14.53 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $422.37 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.53 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.84. Flushing Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $10.74 and a 12 month high of $18.00.

Flushing Financial (NASDAQ:FFIC) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The bank reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18. Flushing Financial had a return on equity of 3.96% and a net margin of 5.84%. The company had revenue of $117.45 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $46.96 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Flushing Financial Co. will post 0.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flushing Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.06%. Flushing Financial’s payout ratio is 88.00%.

Insider Activity at Flushing Financial

In other Flushing Financial news, COO Maria A. Grasso sold 4,500 shares of Flushing Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.49, for a total transaction of $60,705.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 83,238 shares in the company, valued at $1,122,880.62. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 6.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FFIC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler downgraded Flushing Financial from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $15.00 to $16.50 in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Flushing Financial from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com downgraded Flushing Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Flushing Financial from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.50.

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.