** Shares of regional lender Flushing Financial Corp FFIC.O down 8.4% at $15.80 early Fri to lowest since Nov 1 after equity raise
** Parent of Flushing Bank late Thurs sold $4.6 mln shares at $15.25 for $70 mln gross raise
** Offering price represents 11.6% discount to stock's last sale
** Uniondale, New York-based firm plans to use net proceeds for potential balance sheet repositioning, as well as potential sale of certain of its commercial real estate loans
** KBW, Piper Sandler and Raymond James are jt bookrunners for offering
** Other regional lenders, including Washington Trust WASH.O and Dime Community Bancshares DCOM.O, which also raised equity last month for potential balance sheet repositioning, have raised capital recently in wake of a President-elect Donald Trump-fueled rally in bank stocks
** Prior to offering, FFIC had ~29.1 mln shares outstanding for ~$500 mln market cap
** Through Thurs close, FFIC shares had gained ~25% over the past three months. With move on Fri, shares ~4% YTD
(Lance Tupper is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own)
((lance.tupper@tr.com 1-646-279-6380))
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