First Financial Northwest (NASDAQ:FFNW) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Sell”

StockNews.com cut shares of First Financial Northwest (NASDAQ:FFNW) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Saturday morning.

Separately, Piper Sandler lowered First Financial Northwest from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and set a $23.50 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, July 26th.

First Financial Northwest Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FFNW traded down $0.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $21.10. 107,261 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 39,472. The firm has a market capitalization of $193.57 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.94 and a beta of 0.54. First Financial Northwest has a 52-week low of $10.09 and a 52-week high of $22.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The business’s fifty day moving average is $21.31 and its 200-day moving average is $20.92.

First Financial Northwest (NASDAQ:FFNW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $19.99 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.60 million. First Financial Northwest had a return on equity of 1.98% and a net margin of 3.89%. As a group, analysts forecast that First Financial Northwest will post 0.27 EPS for the current year.

First Financial Northwest Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. First Financial Northwest’s payout ratio is 157.58%.

Institutional Trading of First Financial Northwest

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FFNW. Choreo LLC raised its holdings in First Financial Northwest by 15.6% in 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. Strategic Value Bank Partners LLC raised its holdings in First Financial Northwest by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Value Bank Partners LLC now owns 503,567 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,788,000 after purchasing an additional 30,468 shares in the last quarter. Black Maple Capital Management LP raised its holdings in First Financial Northwest by 86.1% in the fourth quarter. Black Maple Capital Management LP now owns 97,183 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,310,000 after purchasing an additional 44,952 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in First Financial Northwest by 6.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 368,446 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,575,000 after purchasing an additional 21,447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC bought a new position in First Financial Northwest in the second quarter worth $411,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.00% of the company’s stock.

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, savings accounts, and certificates of deposit.