Flushing Financial (NASDAQ:FFIC) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Flushing Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FFIC) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $18.53 and last traded at $18.23, with a volume of 18863 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.09.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Flushing Financial from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Flushing Financial from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Flushing Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut shares of Flushing Financial from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $15.00 to $16.50 in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Flushing Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.50.

Flushing Financial Stock Down 1.8 %

The stock has a market cap of $519.48 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.54 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a fifty day moving average of $15.63 and a 200 day moving average of $14.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

Flushing Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.92%. Flushing Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 101.15%.

Insider Activity at Flushing Financial

In related news, Director Sam Sang Ki Han sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.47, for a total value of $154,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 67,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,040,372.97. This trade represents a 12.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Astrid Burrowes sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.19, for a total value of $129,520.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $564,270.07. The trade was a 18.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Flushing Financial by 41.0% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 161,275 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,121,000 after acquiring an additional 46,871 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Flushing Financial by 38.1% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 370,758 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,874,000 after buying an additional 102,219 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Flushing Financial by 531.8% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 326,376 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,292,000 after buying an additional 274,720 shares during the period. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Flushing Financial by 11.5% during the second quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 453,198 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,960,000 after buying an additional 46,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Flushing Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $196,000. 67.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.