Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) Short Interest Update

Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,700 shares, an increase of 5.7% from the August 15th total of 3,500 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.9 days. Approximately 0.1% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Finward Bancorp Stock Performance

FNWD stock traded down $0.67 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $28.03. 4,441 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,673. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Finward Bancorp has a 52 week low of $17.29 and a 52 week high of $29.59. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $27.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $120.81 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.97 and a beta of 0.52.

Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.12. Finward Bancorp had a net margin of 12.00% and a return on equity of 9.26%. The firm had revenue of $24.70 million during the quarter. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Finward Bancorp will post 0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Finward Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 19th were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 19th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. Finward Bancorp’s payout ratio is 13.33%.

Institutional Trading of Finward Bancorp

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FNWD. PL Capital Advisors LLC grew 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 worth $8,729,000 after acquiring an additional 255,595 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Finward Bancorp by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,930,000 after purchasing an additional 5,206 shares during the period. Black Maple Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Finward Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at about $612,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP acquired a new position in Finward Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $329,000. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Finward Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at about $262,000. Institutional investors own 26.59% of the company’s stock.

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 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, September 6th.

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.