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

First Financial Northwest (NASDAQ:FFNW) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Friday.

Separately, Piper Sandler downgraded First Financial Northwest from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $23.50 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, July 26th.

First Financial Northwest Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FFNW traded up $0.38 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $23.00. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 70,658 shares, compared to its average volume of 40,485. The company has a market cap of $211.00 million, a P/E ratio of 69.70 and a beta of 0.53. First Financial Northwest has a 12-month low of $10.09 and a 12-month high of $23.18. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10.

First Financial Northwest (NASDAQ:FFNW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $19.99 million for 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%. On average, analysts forecast that First Financial Northwest will post 0.23 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Financial Northwest

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FFNW. Black Maple Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of First Financial Northwest by 45.8% during the 1st quarter. Black Maple Capital Management LP now owns 141,677 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,913,000 after purchasing an additional 44,494 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of First Financial Northwest by 6.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 368,446 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,575,000 after acquiring an additional 21,447 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of First Financial Northwest by 45.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 63,223 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,336,000 after acquiring an additional 19,670 shares during the period. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Financial Northwest in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $411,000. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ purchased a new position in shares of First Financial Northwest during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $403,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.