Zacks Investment Research cut shares of Northwest Bancshares (NASDAQ:NWBI) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Wednesday, Zacks.com reports.
According to Zacks, “Northwest Bancorp, Inc. is a bank holding company whose sole activity is the ownership of all of the issued and outstanding common stock of Northwest Savings Bank and the majority ownership of Jamestown Savings Bank. Northwest Savings Bank is a stock savings bank. The bank is a community-oriented institution offering traditional deposit and loan products, and through its subsidiaries, consumer finance services. “
Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Raymond James started coverage on shares of Northwest Bancshares in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. They issued a market perform rating for the company. ValuEngine upgraded shares of Northwest Bancshares from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, BidaskClub upgraded shares of Northwest Bancshares from a strong sell rating to a sell rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. Northwest Bancshares has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $19.00.
NWBI stock opened at $16.54 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $16.65 and its 200-day moving average is $16.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company has a market cap of $1.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.41 and a beta of 0.65. Northwest Bancshares has a twelve month low of $15.46 and a twelve month high of $18.81.
Northwest Bancshares (NASDAQ:NWBI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The savings and loans company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $117.11 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $116.30 million. Northwest Bancshares had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 21.99%. Research analysts anticipate that Northwest Bancshares will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
In related news, Director John P. Meegan sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.80, for a total value of $100,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 65,350 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,097,880. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Michael G. Smelko sold 25,684 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.60, for a total value of $426,354.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 91,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,517,007.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 51,714 shares of company stock valued at $871,130. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY increased its holdings in Northwest Bancshares by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY now owns 32,535 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $533,000 after purchasing an additional 873 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Northwest Bancshares by 365.5% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 379,551 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $6,220,000 after purchasing an additional 298,010 shares in the last quarter. Man Group plc increased its holdings in Northwest Bancshares by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Man Group plc now owns 194,431 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $3,187,000 after purchasing an additional 11,928 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new position in Northwest Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth about $340,000. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Northwest Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth about $210,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.82% of the company’s stock.
Northwest Bancshares Company Profile
Northwest Bancshares, Inc is a holding company. It offers personal & business banking products including employee benefits, investment management services, insurance and trust. It engages in collecting deposits and making loans secured by various types of collateral, including real estate and other assets.
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