Flushing Financial (NASDAQ:FFIC) Sees Large Volume Increase – Time to Buy?

Flushing Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:FFIC) saw an uptick in trading volume on Tuesday . 768,238 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 178% from the previous session’s volume of 276,283 shares.The stock last traded at $15.4530 and had previously closed at $16.89.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on FFIC. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Flushing Financial in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Zacks Research raised shares of Flushing Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Flushing Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Flushing Financial Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market cap of $519.37 million, a PE ratio of -12.91 and a beta of 0.84. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $15.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.88.

Flushing Financial (NASDAQ:FFIC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 15th. The bank reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $54.81 million for the quarter. Flushing Financial had a negative net margin of 6.93% and a positive return on equity of 4.98%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Flushing Financial Corporation will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Flushing Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. Flushing Financial’s dividend payout ratio is -73.95%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Flushing Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of Flushing Financial by 75.1% in 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 during the last quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey raised its stake in Flushing Financial by 37.0% during the second quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 8,119 shares of the bank’s stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 2,194 shares during the period. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP acquired a new stake in Flushing Financial during the third quarter worth about $147,000. ProShare Advisors LLC bought a new position in Flushing Financial in the third quarter worth about $152,000. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new position in Flushing Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $177,000. 67.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.