Short Interest in First Northwest Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWB) Expands By 15.5%

First Northwest Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWB) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 22,400 shares, an increase of 15.5% from the May 15th total of 19,400 shares. Approximately 0.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 17,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.3 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Northwest Bancorp news, Director Dana D. Behar purchased 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $10.50 per share, for a total transaction of $840,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 135,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,422,403.50. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 4.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FNWB. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in First Northwest Bancorp by 21.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in First Northwest Bancorp by 7.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 15,052 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $236,000 after acquiring an additional 1,050 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in First Northwest Bancorp by 57.6% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 16,183 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $253,000 after acquiring an additional 5,915 shares during the last quarter. Equitable Trust Co. grew its holdings in First Northwest Bancorp by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 19,496 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $311,000 after acquiring an additional 1,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of First Northwest Bancorp by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 119,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,472,000 after purchasing an additional 2,400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.11% of the company’s stock.

First Northwest Bancorp Stock Performance

First Northwest Bancorp stock opened at $9.61 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $10.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.60. First Northwest Bancorp has a 52 week low of $9.54 and a 52 week high of $16.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.72 million, a P/E ratio of -96.10 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31.

First Northwest Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by ($0.08). First Northwest Bancorp had a negative net margin of 0.78% and a positive return on equity of 2.85%. The firm had revenue of $16.12 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.50 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that First Northwest Bancorp will post 0.5 earnings per share for the current year.

First Northwest Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th were given a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. First Northwest Bancorp’s payout ratio is -280.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded First Northwest Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of First Northwest Bancorp from $17.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st.

About First Northwest Bancorp

First Northwest Bancorp operates as a bank holding company for First Fed Bank that provides commercial and consumer banking services to individuals, businesses, and nonprofit organizations in western Washington, the United States. The company accepts various deposit instruments, including checking, money market deposit, savings, and transaction accounts, as well as certificates of deposit.