StockNews.com Upgrades First Financial Northwest (NASDAQ:FFNW) to Hold

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

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

First Financial Northwest Stock Performance

Shares of FFNW opened at $21.27 on Friday. First Financial Northwest has a 52-week low of $10.09 and a 52-week high of $22.48. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $195.13 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.45 and a beta of 0.54.

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

First Financial Northwest Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. First Financial Northwest’s payout ratio is presently 157.58%.

Institutional Trading of First Financial Northwest

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rhumbline Advisers purchased a new stake in shares of First Financial Northwest in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $188,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in First Financial Northwest by 9.8% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 11,986 shares of the bank’s stock worth $253,000 after acquiring an additional 1,069 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in First Financial Northwest by 45.2% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 63,223 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,336,000 after acquiring an additional 19,670 shares in the last quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Financial Northwest in the second quarter worth $411,000. Finally, Black Maple Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of First Financial Northwest by 45.8% during the first quarter. Black Maple Capital Management LP now owns 141,677 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,913,000 after acquiring an additional 44,494 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.00% of the company’s stock.

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.