Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) Short Interest Update

Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) saw a large growth in short interest in August. As of August 14th, there was short interest totaling 111,278 shares, a growth of 75.8% from the July 30th total of 63,281 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 17,556 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.3 days. Currently, 3.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on FNWD shares. Weiss Ratings raised Finward Bancorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Zacks Research raised shares of Finward Bancorp to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Finward Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.00.

Finward Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FNWD opened at $43.35 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $187.71 million, a PE ratio of 19.10 and a beta of 0.16. Finward Bancorp has a 1 year low of $30.05 and a 1 year high of $45.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.81.

Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.62 by ($0.14). Finward Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.68% and a net margin of 9.65%.The firm had revenue of $17.58 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.90 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Finward Bancorp will post 2.63 EPS for the current year.

Finward Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 17th were given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 17th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Finward Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.15%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Finward Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FNWD. Raffles Associates LP bought a new position in shares of Finward Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $978,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Finward Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $828,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Finward Bancorp by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 24,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $878,000 after acquiring an additional 1,309 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Finward Bancorp by 49.0% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 897 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Finward Bancorp by 98.9% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,291 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 642 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.59% of the company’s stock.

About Finward Bancorp

Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ: FNWD) is the bank holding company for Finward Bank, a community-focused financial institution serving businesses and individuals across Pennsylvania and Delaware. Through a network of full-service branches and a robust digital banking platform, Finward Bank delivers a range of personal and commercial banking solutions designed to meet the needs of local customers.

The company’s core offerings include deposit products such as checking accounts, savings accounts and time deposits, as well as a variety of lending solutions.