Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,700 shares, an increase of 5.7% from the November 30th total of 3,500 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.3 days. Approximately 0.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Finward Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of FNWD traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $28.11. 3,554 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,681. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.94. Finward Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $22.82 and a fifty-two week high of $33.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.27 million, a PE ratio of 10.45 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $14.87 million for the quarter. Finward Bancorp had a return on equity of 7.60% and a net margin of 10.44%. As a group, research analysts predict that Finward Bancorp will post 0.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Finward Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. Finward Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Hovde Group upgraded Finward Bancorp from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $31.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, September 6th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Finward Bancorp stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD - Free Report) by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,662 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 2,825 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 0.90% of Finward Bancorp worth $1,237,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 26.59% of the stock is currently 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.