Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) Cut to Market Perform at Hovde Group

Hovde Group downgraded shares of Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research report released on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports.

Finward Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of FNWD opened at $29.09 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $27.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.27. Finward Bancorp has a 52 week low of $23.50 and a 52 week high of $33.50. The stock has a market cap of $125.49 million, a P/E ratio of 10.28 and a beta of 0.53.

Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.31. Finward Bancorp had a net margin of 10.85% and a return on equity of 7.91%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Finward Bancorp will post 0.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Finward Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 21st. Finward Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 16.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert W. Youman bought 1,400 shares of Finward Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $27.76 per share, with a total value of $38,864.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 22,773 shares in the company, valued at $632,178.48. The trade was a 6.55 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Carolyn M. Burke acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $26.80 per share, for a total transaction of $26,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,800. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 6,472 shares of company stock valued at $174,563 in the last ninety days. 13.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Finward Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. PL Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Finward Bancorp by 2,718.1% during the fourth quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 9,999,177 shares of the company’s stock worth $281,077,000 after purchasing an additional 9,644,355 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Finward Bancorp by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 344,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,696,000 after purchasing an additional 33,036 shares during the last quarter. Finward Bancorp purchased a new position in shares of Finward Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $4,175,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Finward Bancorp by 7.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 38,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,237,000 after purchasing an additional 2,825 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Finward Bancorp by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 17,641 shares of the company’s stock worth $496,000 after purchasing an additional 1,393 shares during the last quarter. 26.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Finward Bancorp

Finward Bancorp operates as the holding company for Peoples Bank that provides various banking products and services. The company’s deposit products include non-interest- and interest-bearing demand accounts, savings accounts, money market deposit accounts, certificate accounts, and retirement savings plans.