Northwest Bancshares (NASDAQ:NWBI) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Northwest Bancshares (NASDAQ:NWBI) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday.

Northwest Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of Northwest Bancshares stock opened at $14.72 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.37 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Northwest Bancshares has a 52 week low of $10.45 and a 52 week high of $15.35. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $13.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.58.

Northwest Bancshares (NASDAQ:NWBI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The savings and loans company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.26. Northwest Bancshares had a net margin of 13.19% and a return on equity of 8.24%. The company had revenue of $199.21 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.80 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.31 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Northwest Bancshares will post 1.02 EPS for the current year.

Northwest Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 18th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Northwest Bancshares’s payout ratio is 105.26%.

Institutional Trading of Northwest Bancshares

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Northwest Bancshares by 93.7% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,935 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 1,420 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Northwest Bancshares by 33.2% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 99,307 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,191,000 after purchasing an additional 24,767 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Northwest Bancshares by 42.4% during the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 39,416 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $455,000 after purchasing an additional 11,733 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in Northwest Bancshares by 66.5% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,769 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 2,304 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of Northwest Bancshares by 79.8% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 66,076 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $770,000 after buying an additional 29,324 shares in the last quarter. 66.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northwest Bancshares Company Profile

Northwest Bancshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Northwest Bank, a state-chartered savings bank that provides personal and business banking solutions. The company accepts various deposits, including checking, savings, money market deposit, term certificate, and individual retirement accounts.