Short Interest in Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) Increases By 15.8%

Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,400 shares, an increase of 15.8% from the October 31st total of 3,800 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.4 days. Approximately 0.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Hovde Group upgraded shares of Finward Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $31.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, September 6th.

Finward Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FNWD traded down $0.36 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $31.02. 3,564 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,898. Finward Bancorp has a 52-week low of $20.64 and a 52-week high of $33.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company has a 50-day moving average of $31.34 and a 200-day moving average of $28.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $133.70 million, a P/E ratio of 11.53 and a beta of 0.52.

Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $14.87 million during the quarter. Finward Bancorp had a net margin of 10.44% and a return on equity of 7.60%. Analysts forecast that Finward Bancorp will post 0.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Finward Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th were issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. Finward Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.84%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Finward Bancorp by 3.4% during 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Finward Bancorp by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 38,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,237,000 after purchasing an additional 2,825 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP purchased a new stake in Finward Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth about $329,000. 26.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.