Short Interest in First Financial Northwest, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFNW) Rises By 24.2%

First Financial Northwest, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFNW) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 80,000 shares, an increase of 24.2% from the March 15th total of 64,400 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 32,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Institutional Trading of First Financial Northwest

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. UBS Group AG lifted its position in shares of First Financial Northwest by 213.0% during the second quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,800 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225 shares in the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Financial Northwest during the fourth quarter worth about $117,000. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of First Financial Northwest by 13.6% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 10,000 shares of the bank’s stock worth $148,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of First Financial Northwest during the first quarter worth about $234,000. Finally, Choreo LLC lifted its position in shares of First Financial Northwest by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 19,280 shares of the bank’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 2,600 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on FFNW shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of First Financial Northwest from $15.00 to $23.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. DA Davidson downgraded shares of First Financial Northwest from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $16.00 to $22.00 in a report on Friday, January 12th. StockNews.com began coverage on First Financial Northwest in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of First Financial Northwest from $14.00 to $23.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $23.00.

First Financial Northwest Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:FFNW traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $20.44. 35,032 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 31,281. First Financial Northwest has a twelve month low of $9.70 and a twelve month high of $22.17. The business has a 50-day moving average of $20.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $16.24. The company has a market capitalization of $187.43 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.06 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

First Financial Northwest (NASDAQ:FFNW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.14 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $9.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.26 million. First Financial Northwest had a return on equity of 3.95% and a net margin of 7.79%. On average, equities analysts predict that First Financial Northwest will post 0.41 EPS for the current year.

First Financial Northwest Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.54%. First Financial Northwest’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.47%.

First Financial Northwest Company Profile

First Financial Northwest, Inc operates as the bank holding company for First Financial Northwest Bank that provides commercial banking services in Washington. The company offers a range of deposit products, including noninterest bearing accounts, interest-bearing demand accounts, money market accounts, statement savings accounts, and certificates of deposit.