Norwood Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:NWFL) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Norwood Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:NWFL) saw a significant growth in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totaling 391,400 shares, a growth of 37.0% from the September 30th total of 285,700 shares. Approximately 4.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 21,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 17.9 days. Based on an average trading volume of 21,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 17.9 days. Approximately 4.6% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $26.50 target price on shares of Norwood Financial in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of Norwood Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Norwood Financial from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Norwood Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Norwood Financial news, Director James Shook bought 3,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $26.71 per share, with a total value of $101,498.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $129,009.30. The trade was a 368.93% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 9.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Norwood Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NWFL. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC bought a new stake in Norwood Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,679,000. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in shares of Norwood Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $648,000. Fourthstone LLC acquired a new position in shares of Norwood Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $510,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Norwood Financial by 20.8% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 89,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,305,000 after buying an additional 15,408 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Norwood Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $363,000. 28.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Norwood Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ NWFL opened at $26.30 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.60. The company has a market cap of $243.59 million, a P/E ratio of 40.46 and a beta of 0.69. Norwood Financial has a 1 year low of $21.25 and a 1 year high of $34.50.

Norwood Financial (NASDAQ:NWFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.26. Norwood Financial had a net margin of 6.82% and a return on equity of 10.86%. The business had revenue of $22.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.10 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.48 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Norwood Financial will post 2.51 EPS for the current year.

Norwood Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th were issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. Norwood Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 190.77%.

About Norwood Financial

Norwood Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Wayne Bank that provides various banking products and services. The company accepts a range of deposit products, including interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing transaction accounts, and statement savings and money market accounts, as well as certificate of deposits.