Short Interest in Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) Rises By 8.1%

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Finward Bancorp

A hedge fund recently bought a new stake in Finward Bancorp stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 13,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $329,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 0.31% of Finward Bancorp as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 26.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Finward Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of FNWD stock traded up $0.01 on Friday, hitting $27.01. 3,623 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,672. 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 52 week low of $22.82 and a 52 week high of $33.50. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.22. The firm has a market cap of $116.41 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.04 and a beta of 0.54.

Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $14.87 million for the quarter. Finward Bancorp had a net margin of 10.44% and a return on equity of 7.60%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Finward Bancorp will post 0.08 earnings per share 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. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. Finward Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.84%.

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.