Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) Short Interest Update

Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,800 shares, an increase of 8.6% from the October 15th total of 3,500 shares. Approximately 0.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.3 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Finward Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FNWD. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Finward Bancorp by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,750 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,930,000 after purchasing an additional 5,206 shares during the period. Black Maple Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Finward Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth about $612,000. Global Financial Private Client LLC purchased a new position in shares of Finward Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of Finward Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth about $329,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Finward Bancorp by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 38,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,237,000 after buying an additional 2,825 shares during the period. 26.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Finward Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of Finward Bancorp stock traded down $0.11 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $31.40. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,511 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,926. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $30.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.62. Finward Bancorp has a one year low of $20.00 and a one year high of $33.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $135.33 million, a P/E ratio of 11.67 and a beta of 0.53.

Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.04). Finward Bancorp had a return on equity of 7.73% and a net margin of 10.44%. The business had revenue of $14.87 million during the quarter. On average, analysts predict that Finward Bancorp will post 0.08 EPS for the current year.

Finward Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Finward Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Hovde Group upgraded shares of Finward Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $31.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, September 6th.

Finward Bancorp Company Profile

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.