Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) Short Interest Down 13.7% in February

Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 6,300 shares, a decrease of 13.7% from the February 13th total of 7,300 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days. Approximately 0.2% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Hovde Group cut shares of Finward Bancorp from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday.

Insider Buying and Selling at Finward Bancorp

In related news, Director Robert W. Youman bought 1,400 shares of Finward Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $27.76 per share, for a total transaction of $38,864.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 22,773 shares in the company, valued at approximately $632,178.48. This represents a 6.55 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Carolyn M. Burke bought 1,000 shares of Finward Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $26.80 per share, with a total value of $26,800.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,800. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought 6,472 shares of company stock worth $174,563 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Finward Bancorp

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. PL Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Finward Bancorp by 2,718.1% in the 4th quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 9,999,177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $281,077,000 after acquiring an additional 9,644,355 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in shares of Finward Bancorp by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 344,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,696,000 after purchasing an additional 33,036 shares during the last quarter. Finward Bancorp acquired a new position in shares of Finward Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $4,175,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Finward Bancorp by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 38,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,237,000 after buying an additional 2,825 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Finward Bancorp by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 17,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $496,000 after buying an additional 1,393 shares during the last quarter. 26.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Finward Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of Finward Bancorp stock traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $29.35. The company had a trading volume of 1,839 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,064. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company has a market capitalization of $126.62 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.40 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.27. Finward Bancorp has a 1-year low of $23.50 and a 1-year high of $33.50.

Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.31. Finward Bancorp had a net margin of 10.85% and a return on equity of 7.91%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Finward Bancorp will post 0.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Finward Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.64%. Finward Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 16.96%.

Finward Bancorp Company Profile

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.