Hovde Group Upgrades Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) to Outperform

Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) was upgraded by equities researchers at Hovde Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note issued on Friday, Briefing.com reports.

Finward Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of FNWD stock opened at $27.26 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $117.49 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.57 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $26.83 and a 200-day moving average of $25.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Finward Bancorp has a 1-year low of $17.29 and a 1-year high of $29.53.

Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.12. Finward Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.26% and a net margin of 12.00%. The firm had revenue of $24.70 million during the quarter. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Finward Bancorp will post 0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Finward Bancorp by 3.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,930,000 after acquiring an additional 5,206 shares during the last quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Finward Bancorp during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Finward Bancorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $329,000. Black Maple Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Finward Bancorp during the first quarter valued at approximately $612,000. Finally, PL Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Finward Bancorp by 257.6% during the first quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 354,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,729,000 after acquiring an additional 255,595 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.59% of the company’s stock.

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.