American Century Companies Inc. Purchases 116,819 Shares of Flushing Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FFIC)

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Flushing Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FFIC) by 23.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 617,687 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 116,819 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 1.84% of Flushing Financial worth $8,821,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Flushing Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 3,100 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Flushing Financial by 27.8% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 6,434 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Flushing Financial by 64.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,259 shares of the bank’s stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 2,836 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Flushing Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $141,000. Institutional investors own 67.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Thomas Buonaiuto sold 6,800 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,336 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $417,781.12. This represents a 17.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 6.31% of the company’s stock.

Flushing Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ:FFIC opened at $12.78 on Thursday. Flushing Financial Co. has a one year low of $10.74 and a one year high of $18.59. The stock has a market cap of $431.67 million, a PE ratio of -12.65 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $13.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.95.

Flushing Financial (NASDAQ:FFIC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Flushing Financial Co. will post 1.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flushing Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.89%. Flushing Financial’s payout ratio is -87.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.