Norwood Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:NWFL) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Norwood Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:NWFL) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 67,400 shares, an increase of 37.3% from the March 15th total of 49,100 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 16,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.1 days. Currently, 0.9% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Norwood Financial Trading Up 2.5 %

NWFL opened at $23.01 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $24.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.14 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2,301.00 and a beta of 0.54. Norwood Financial has a fifty-two week low of $21.25 and a fifty-two week high of $34.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Norwood Financial (NASDAQ:NWFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $20.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.60 million. Norwood Financial had a negative net margin of 0.16% and a positive return on equity of 8.38%. As a group, research analysts predict that Norwood Financial will post 2.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Norwood Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Norwood Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 1,377.78%.

Insider Activity at Norwood Financial

In other news, Director Ronald R. Schmalzle bought 2,563 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $26.43 per share, for a total transaction of $67,740.09. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 15,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $400,890.24. This trade represents a 20.33 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 9.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Norwood Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Norwood Financial by 42,200.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,076 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $123,000 after acquiring an additional 5,064 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Norwood Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $16,814,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Norwood Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $137,000. Jacobs Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Norwood Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $1,671,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in Norwood Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $232,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NWFL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Norwood Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Norwood Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $28.00 price target for the company. Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on Norwood Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stephens raised shares of Norwood Financial to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th.

Norwood Financial Company Profile

Norwood Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Wayne Bank that provides various banking products and services. The company accepts a range of deposit products, including interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing transaction accounts, and statement savings and money market accounts, as well as certificate of deposits.