Short Interest in Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) Expands By 8.6%

Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in 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. Based on an average trading volume of 3,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.3 days. Approximately 0.1% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Institutional Trading of Finward Bancorp

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

Finward Bancorp Stock Performance

Finward Bancorp stock traded down $0.25 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $31.15. 1,949 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,923. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Finward Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $20.00 and a fifty-two week high of $33.50. The company has a market capitalization of $134.38 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.58 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $30.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.62.

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

Finward Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.54%. Finward Bancorp’s payout ratio is 17.84%.

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.