First Financial Northwest, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFNW) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

First Financial Northwest, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFNW) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the three research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $23.00.

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

First Financial Northwest Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of First Financial Northwest stock opened at $20.36 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $20.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $16.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. First Financial Northwest has a 52-week low of $9.70 and a 52-week high of $22.17. The company has a market cap of $186.70 million, a P/E ratio of 29.94 and a beta of 0.54.

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

First Financial Northwest Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. First Financial Northwest’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.47%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Financial Northwest

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FFNW. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in First Financial Northwest by 45.4% in the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 212,598 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,155,000 after acquiring an additional 66,427 shares in the last quarter. Black Maple Capital Management LP increased its holdings in First Financial Northwest by 86.1% in the 4th quarter. Black Maple Capital Management LP now owns 97,183 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,310,000 after acquiring an additional 44,952 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Value Bank Partners LLC increased its holdings in First Financial Northwest by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Value Bank Partners LLC now owns 503,567 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,788,000 after acquiring an additional 30,468 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in First Financial Northwest in the 3rd quarter worth $324,000. Finally, Susquehanna International Group LLP purchased a new stake in First Financial Northwest in the 1st quarter worth $234,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.00% of the company’s stock.

About First Financial Northwest

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.