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

Shares of First Financial Northwest, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFNW) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the three ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $23.00.

A number of research firms have commented on FFNW. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on 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. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective 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. StockNews.com initiated coverage on First Financial Northwest in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. Finally, DA Davidson lowered First Financial Northwest from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $16.00 to $22.00 in a report on Friday, January 12th.

First Financial Northwest Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FFNW opened at $20.56 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $188.62 million, a P/E ratio of 30.24 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. First Financial Northwest has a 1-year low of $9.70 and a 1-year high of $22.17. The business’s 50 day moving average is $20.72 and its 200-day moving average is $15.59.

First Financial Northwest (NASDAQ:FFNW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $0.13 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $10.26 million. First Financial Northwest had a return on equity of 3.95% and a net margin of 7.79%. Equities research analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.53%. First Financial Northwest’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.47%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of First Financial Northwest by 13.6% in the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 10,000 shares of the bank’s stock worth $148,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of First Financial Northwest by 5.6% in the second quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,937 shares of the bank’s stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 1,216 shares during the period. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in shares of First Financial Northwest by 213.0% in the second quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,800 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,900 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Financial Northwest by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 90,069 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,214,000 after purchasing an additional 2,112 shares during the period. 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, statement savings accounts, and certificates of deposit.