Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) Trading Up 3.3% – Still a Buy?

Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD)’s stock price rose 3.3% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $35.66 and last traded at $34.92. Approximately 29,711 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 1% from the average daily volume of 30,002 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.79.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FNWD has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Finward Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Finward Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $34.00.

Finward Bancorp Stock Up 3.3%

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $32.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.11. The company has a market capitalization of $150.85 million, a P/E ratio of 18.28 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $17.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.80 million. Finward Bancorp had a net margin of 8.01% and a return on equity of 5.38%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Finward Bancorp will post 0.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Finward Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. Finward Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.71%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Finward Bancorp

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FNWD. PL Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Finward Bancorp by 11.2% during the 1st quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 395,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,515,000 after purchasing an additional 40,000 shares during the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN bought a new position in Finward Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $442,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Finward Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $213,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Finward Bancorp by 99.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 81,669 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,256,000 after purchasing an additional 40,778 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. bought a new position in Finward Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,000. 26.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.