Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,000 shares, a growth of 8.1% from the December 31st total of 3,700 shares. Currently, 0.1% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.4 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FNWD. PL Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Finward Bancorp by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 355,716 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,999,000 after buying an additional 894 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,825 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Finward Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $329,000. 26.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Finward Bancorp Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of FNWD stock traded down $0.11 on Friday, reaching $26.31. 4,263 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,123. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Finward Bancorp has a one year low of $22.82 and a one year high of $33.50. The stock has a market cap of $113.50 million, a PE ratio of 9.30 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $28.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.35.

Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Finward Bancorp will post 0.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Finward Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st were paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 21st. Finward Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.96%.

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.