Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Makes New $1.10 Million Investment in Flushing Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FFIC)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in shares of Flushing Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FFIC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 76,846 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,097,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 0.23% of Flushing Financial at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of FFIC. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Flushing Financial by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 694,216 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,124,000 after purchasing an additional 5,128 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Flushing Financial by 2.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 233,236 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,401,000 after buying an additional 4,876 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its stake in shares of Flushing Financial by 15.3% during the fourth quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 16,758 shares of the bank’s stock worth $239,000 after buying an additional 2,219 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Flushing Financial by 56.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 51,833 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $756,000 after acquiring an additional 18,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in Flushing Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $450,000. 67.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Flushing Financial Trading Down 0.9 %

FFIC opened at $11.10 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94. Flushing Financial Co. has a one year low of $10.65 and a one year high of $18.59. The company has a market cap of $374.92 million, a P/E ratio of -10.99 and a beta of 0.67. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $13.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.83.

Flushing Financial (NASDAQ:FFIC) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Flushing Financial Co. will post 1.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flushing Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.93%. Flushing Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently -87.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Thomas Buonaiuto sold 6,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.92, for a total value of $87,856.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,336 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $417,781.12. This represents a 17.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 6.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Flushing Financial 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.