Short Interest in Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) Grows By 9.4%

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

Institutional Trading of Finward Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Global Financial Private Client LLC acquired a new stake in Finward Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Finward Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $329,000. Black Maple Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Finward Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth approximately $612,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Finward Bancorp by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,930,000 after acquiring an additional 5,206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PL Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Finward Bancorp by 257.6% during the 1st 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 26.59% of the company’s stock.

Finward Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FNWD traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $31.25. The stock had a trading volume of 2,516 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,155. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.03. The stock has a market cap of $134.81 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.21 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. Finward Bancorp has a twelve month low of $18.06 and a twelve month high of $33.05.

Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) last released 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 company 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, equities research analysts forecast that Finward Bancorp will post 0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Finward Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. Finward Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 15.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Hovde Group raised shares of Finward Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $31.00 price target on the stock in a research report 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.