Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) Short Interest Up 9.4% in October

Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,500 shares, an increase of 9.4% from the September 30th total of 3,200 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.2 days. Currently, 0.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Finward Bancorp Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of FNWD opened at $31.25 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $29.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a market capitalization of $134.81 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.21 and a beta of 0.53. Finward Bancorp has a 52 week low of $18.06 and a 52 week high of $33.05.

Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $14.87 million for the quarter. Finward Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.26% and a net margin of 12.00%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Finward Bancorp will post 0.18 EPS for the current year.

Finward Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th were given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. Finward Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.69%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FNWD. Global Financial Private Client LLC purchased a new position in Finward Bancorp during the first quarter valued at $26,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Finward Bancorp by 3.4% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP purchased a new stake in Finward Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $329,000. Black Maple Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Finward Bancorp during the first quarter valued at approximately $612,000. Finally, PL Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Finward Bancorp by 257.6% in the first quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 354,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,729,000 after acquiring an additional 255,595 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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 objective on the stock 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.