Short Interest in Flushing Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FFIC) Decreases By 26.5%

Flushing Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FFIC) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 393,000 shares, a drop of 26.5% from the February 28th total of 534,900 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 354,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.1 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Flushing Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Thomas Buonaiuto sold 6,800 shares of Flushing Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.92, for a total value of $87,856.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,336 shares in the company, valued at approximately $417,781.12. This trade represents a 17.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 6.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FFIC. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Flushing Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Flushing Financial by 496.0% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,725 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Flushing Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $73,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Flushing Financial by 27.8% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 6,434 shares of the bank’s stock worth $92,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in Flushing Financial by 64.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,259 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $106,000 after buying an additional 2,836 shares during the period. 67.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Flushing Financial Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of FFIC stock traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $12.72. 127,805 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 234,425. The firm has a market cap of $429.47 million, a PE ratio of -12.62 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The company’s 50 day moving average is $13.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.98. Flushing Financial has a 1 year low of $10.74 and a 1 year high of $18.59.

Flushing Financial (NASDAQ:FFIC) last announced 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 negative net margin of 6.46% and a positive return on equity of 3.25%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Flushing Financial will post 1.2 EPS for the current year.

Flushing Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Flushing Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -87.13%.

About Flushing Financial

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.