Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) Cut to Market Perform at Hovde Group

Hovde Group lowered shares of Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note released on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports.

Finward Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FNWD opened at $29.09 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.49 million, a P/E ratio of 10.28 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $27.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.27. Finward Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $23.50 and a fifty-two week high of $33.50.

Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 year.

Finward Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st were issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. Finward Bancorp’s payout ratio is 16.96%.

Insider Activity

In other Finward Bancorp news, Director Carolyn M. Burke acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $26.80 per share, with a total value of $26,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,800. This trade represents a ? increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert W. Youman bought 1,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $27.76 per share, for a total transaction of $38,864.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 22,773 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $632,178.48. This represents a 6.55 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have bought 6,472 shares of company stock worth $174,563. 13.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Finward Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Finward Bancorp by 7.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 38,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,237,000 after purchasing an additional 2,825 shares during the period. PL Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 894 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Finward Bancorp by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $422,000 after purchasing an additional 4,098 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Finward Bancorp by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 17,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $496,000 after purchasing an additional 1,393 shares during the period. Finally, Finward Bancorp purchased a new stake in Finward Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,175,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.59% of the company’s stock.

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.