First Financial Northwest, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFNW) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

First Financial Northwest, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFNW) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the three analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $23.00.

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson lowered shares of First Financial Northwest from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $16.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Friday, January 12th. StockNews.com started coverage on First Financial Northwest in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on First Financial Northwest from $14.00 to $23.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on First Financial Northwest from $15.00 to $23.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th.

First Financial Northwest Stock Up 0.7 %

First Financial Northwest stock opened at $20.51 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $20.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market cap of $188.16 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.16 and a beta of 0.54. First Financial Northwest has a 52 week low of $9.70 and a 52 week high of $22.17.

First Financial Northwest (NASDAQ:FFNW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $9.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.26 million. First Financial Northwest had a return on equity of 3.95% and a net margin of 7.79%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that First Financial Northwest will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current year.

First Financial Northwest Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.54%. First Financial Northwest’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.47%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Strategic Value Bank Partners LLC increased its stake in First Financial Northwest by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Value Bank Partners LLC now owns 503,567 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,788,000 after buying an additional 30,468 shares in the last quarter. Black Maple Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of First Financial Northwest by 86.1% in the fourth quarter. Black Maple Capital Management LP now owns 97,183 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,310,000 after acquiring an additional 44,952 shares in the last quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Financial Northwest by 2.1% in the third quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 94,407 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,201,000 after acquiring an additional 1,900 shares during the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Financial Northwest during the third quarter worth approximately $324,000. Finally, Choreo LLC raised its stake in First Financial Northwest by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 19,280 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 2,600 shares during the last quarter. 55.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.