First Financial Northwest, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFNW) Short Interest Update

First Financial Northwest, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFNW) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 174,500 shares, a decrease of 8.4% from the September 15th total of 190,600 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 39,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.4 days. Currently, 2.5% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Institutional Trading of First Financial Northwest

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rhumbline Advisers bought a new position in First Financial Northwest in the second quarter valued at approximately $188,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Northwest by 9.8% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 11,986 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $253,000 after purchasing an additional 1,069 shares in the last quarter. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Financial Northwest during the third quarter worth about $312,000. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ bought a new position in shares of First Financial Northwest during the second quarter worth about $403,000. Finally, Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in First Financial Northwest in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $411,000. 55.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

First Financial Northwest Price Performance

First Financial Northwest stock traded up $0.08 on Thursday, reaching $23.05. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 21,766 shares, compared to its average volume of 40,389. First Financial Northwest has a twelve month low of $10.09 and a twelve month high of $23.50. The company has a market cap of $211.46 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.85 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $22.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.51.

First Financial Northwest (NASDAQ:FFNW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $19.99 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.60 million. First Financial Northwest had a net margin of 3.89% and a return on equity of 1.98%. Equities analysts expect that First Financial Northwest will post 0.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on FFNW. Piper Sandler lowered First Financial Northwest from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $23.50 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of First Financial Northwest from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th.

First Financial Northwest Company Profile

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.