Flushing Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:FFIC) Short Interest Up 41.6% in March

Flushing Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:FFIC) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 667,060 shares, an increase of 41.6% from the February 26th total of 471,152 shares. Approximately 2.1% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 192,136 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.5 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Flushing Financial news, EVP Thomas Buonaiuto sold 1,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.20, for a total value of $25,434.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 35,469 shares in the company, valued at $574,597.80. This trade represents a 4.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 5.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Flushing Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FFIC. Martin & Co. Inc. TN grew its stake in Flushing Financial by 1.8% in the third quarter. Martin & Co. Inc. TN now owns 58,449 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $807,000 after purchasing an additional 1,037 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Flushing Financial by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 21,621 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $257,000 after buying an additional 1,049 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its holdings in shares of Flushing Financial by 58.6% during the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 3,295 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 1,218 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Flushing Financial by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 17,472 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $222,000 after buying an additional 1,453 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in Flushing Financial by 75.1% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,847 shares of the bank’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 1,650 shares in the last quarter. 67.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Flushing Financial Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ FFIC traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $14.88. The company had a trading volume of 196,158 shares, compared to its average volume of 230,685. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a market capitalization of $504.13 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.56 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $15.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.26. Flushing Financial has a 12-month low of $10.65 and a 12-month high of $17.79.

Flushing Financial (NASDAQ:FFIC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The bank reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.03). Flushing Financial had a net margin of 3.86% and a return on equity of 5.95%. The company had revenue of $58.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $62.27 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. Flushing Financial’s payout ratio is currently 162.96%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on FFIC. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Flushing Financial from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Flushing Financial from $14.50 to $16.80 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Raymond James Financial lowered Flushing Financial from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 31st. Finally, Zacks Research cut Flushing Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.80.

About Flushing Financial

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.