Short Interest in Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) Drops By 13.7%

Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 6,300 shares, a decline of 13.7% from the February 13th total of 7,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days. Currently, 0.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Hovde Group cut shares of Finward Bancorp from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday.

Finward Bancorp Stock Down 1.0 %

FNWD stock opened at $29.09 on Thursday. Finward Bancorp has a one year low of $23.50 and a one year high of $33.50. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $27.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.27. The firm has a market cap of $125.49 million, a PE ratio of 10.28 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86.

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

Finward Bancorp Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Finward Bancorp news, Director Carolyn M. Burke purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $26.80 per share, for a total transaction of $26,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,800. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert W. Youman bought 1,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $27.76 per share, for a total transaction of $38,864.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 22,773 shares in the company, valued at approximately $632,178.48. This represents a 6.55 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 6,472 shares of company stock valued at $174,563 in the last 90 days. 13.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Finward Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Finward Bancorp by 7.9% in the third 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 last quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Finward Bancorp by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 355,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,999,000 after buying an additional 894 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Finward Bancorp by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $422,000 after purchasing an additional 4,098 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Finward Bancorp by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 17,641 shares of the company’s stock worth $496,000 after acquiring an additional 1,393 shares during the period. Finally, Finward Bancorp acquired a new position in Finward Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,175,000. 26.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.