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 report released on Tuesday morning.

Northwest Bancshares Price Performance

NWBI opened at $14.88 on Tuesday. Northwest Bancshares has a 1 year low of $10.45 and a 1 year high of $15.35. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.89 billion, a PE ratio of 19.58 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95.

Northwest Bancshares (NASDAQ:NWBI) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $199.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.80 million. Northwest Bancshares had a return on equity of 8.24% and a net margin of 13.19%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.31 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Northwest Bancshares will post 1.02 EPS for the current year.

Northwest Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 18th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.38%. Northwest Bancshares’s payout ratio is 105.26%.

Institutional Trading of Northwest Bancshares

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Northwest Bancshares by 3.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,835,672 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $64,701,000 after buying an additional 164,025 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Northwest Bancshares by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,684,609 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $19,457,000 after acquiring an additional 15,405 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Northwest Bancshares by 148.3% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,225,917 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $14,159,000 after acquiring an additional 732,172 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Northwest Bancshares by 80.8% during the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 488,161 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $5,638,000 after purchasing an additional 218,158 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Northwest Bancshares by 5.3% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 343,459 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $4,595,000 after purchasing an additional 17,420 shares in the last quarter. 66.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Northwest Bancshares

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.