Stephens Initiates Coverage on Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD)

Equities researchers at Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage set an “overweight” rating and a $41.00 price target on the stock. Stephens’ target price indicates a potential upside of 16.28% from the stock’s previous close.

Separately, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Finward Bancorp in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.00.

Finward Bancorp Stock Down 2.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:FNWD opened at $35.26 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market cap of $152.68 million, a P/E ratio of 18.76 and a beta of 0.33. Finward Bancorp has a 12 month low of $26.46 and a 12 month high of $39.99. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $37.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.54.

Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.15). Finward Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.01% and a net margin of 8.00%.The company had revenue of $16.52 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.25 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Finward Bancorp will post 0.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Finward Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in Finward Bancorp by 14.5% in the third 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Finward Bancorp by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 81,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,884,000 after purchasing an additional 713 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Finward Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth $1,920,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Finward Bancorp by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 54,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,902,000 after purchasing an additional 4,291 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Finward Bancorp by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 49,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,740,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares during the period. 26.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.