Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) Issues Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.15 EPS

Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.15), FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of $16.52 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.25 million. Finward Bancorp had a net margin of 8.01% and a return on equity of 5.27%.

Finward Bancorp Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Finward Bancorp stock opened at $36.64 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.19. The stock has a market cap of $158.54 million, a P/E ratio of 19.18 and a beta of 0.31. Finward Bancorp has a 1-year low of $26.12 and a 1-year high of $39.99.

Finward Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 17th were paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 17th. Finward Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.13%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Finward Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in Finward Bancorp by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 403,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,955,000 after buying an additional 51,038 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Finward Bancorp by 99.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 81,669 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,256,000 after acquiring an additional 40,778 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Finward Bancorp in the second quarter valued at about $102,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Finward Bancorp by 63.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,663 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 1,035 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. acquired a new stake in Finward Bancorp during the second quarter worth about $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.59% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Finward Bancorp in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.00.

About Finward Bancorp

Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ: FNWD) is the bank holding company for Finward Bank, a community-focused financial institution serving businesses and individuals across Pennsylvania and Delaware. Through a network of full-service branches and a robust digital banking platform, Finward Bank delivers a range of personal and commercial banking solutions designed to meet the needs of local customers.

The company’s core offerings include deposit products such as checking accounts, savings accounts and time deposits, as well as a variety of lending solutions.