First Financial Northwest (NASDAQ:FFNW) Upgraded to “Hold” by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of First Financial Northwest (NASDAQ:FFNW) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Sunday.

Separately, Piper Sandler cut shares of First Financial Northwest from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and set a $23.50 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, July 26th.

First Financial Northwest Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of First Financial Northwest stock opened at $22.02 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.96. First Financial Northwest has a fifty-two week low of $10.09 and a fifty-two week high of $22.48. The firm has a market cap of $202.01 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.73 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

First Financial Northwest (NASDAQ:FFNW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $19.99 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.60 million. First Financial Northwest had a net margin of 3.89% and a return on equity of 1.98%. On average, equities analysts forecast that First Financial Northwest will post 0.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Northwest Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. First Financial Northwest’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 157.58%.

Institutional Trading of First Financial Northwest

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FFNW. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ acquired a new position in shares of First Financial Northwest in the second quarter worth about $403,000. Rhumbline Advisers purchased a new stake in shares of First Financial Northwest in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $188,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in First Financial Northwest by 9.8% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 11,986 shares of the bank’s stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 1,069 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in First Financial Northwest by 45.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 63,223 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,336,000 after purchasing an additional 19,670 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in First Financial Northwest during the 2nd quarter valued at $411,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.00% of the company’s stock.

About First Financial Northwest

First Financial Northwest, Inc operates as the bank holding company for First Financial Northwest Bank that provides commercial banking services in Washington. The company offers a range of deposit products, including noninterest-bearing accounts, interest-bearing demand accounts, money market accounts, savings accounts, and certificates of deposit.