Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) Short Interest Up 5.7% in December

Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,700 shares, a growth 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 company’s shares are short sold.

Finward Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of FNWD stock opened at $28.11 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $121.27 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.45 and a beta of 0.52. Finward Bancorp has a 12 month low of $22.82 and a 12 month high of $33.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $30.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.94.

Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.04). Finward Bancorp had a return on equity of 7.60% and a net margin of 10.44%. The business had revenue of $14.87 million for the quarter. Research analysts expect that Finward Bancorp will post 0.08 EPS for the current year.

Finward Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Finward Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.84%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Finward Bancorp

An institutional investor recently bought a new position in Finward Bancorp stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 13,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $329,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.31% of Finward Bancorp at the end of the most recent quarter. 26.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.