Brokerages Set First Financial Northwest, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFNW) Target Price at $23.00

Shares of First Financial Northwest, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFNW) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the three brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation 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.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on FFNW shares. 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 report on Friday, January 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price 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. StockNews.com initiated coverage on First Financial Northwest in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. They set a “sell” rating for the company. Finally, DA Davidson cut First Financial Northwest from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $16.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Friday, January 12th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Financial Northwest

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FFNW. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in shares of First Financial Northwest by 213.0% in the 2nd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,800 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,225 shares during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Financial Northwest in the 4th quarter valued at about $117,000. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of First Financial Northwest by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 10,000 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $148,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP bought a new stake in shares of First Financial Northwest in the 1st quarter valued at about $234,000. Finally, Choreo LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,600 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.00% of the company’s stock.

First Financial Northwest Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FFNW opened at $20.61 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.50. First Financial Northwest has a 1 year low of $9.70 and a 1 year high of $22.17. The company has a market capitalization of $188.99 million, a P/E ratio of 30.31 and a beta of 0.54.

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

First Financial Northwest Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. First Financial Northwest’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.47%.

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, statement savings accounts, and certificates of deposit.