Northwest Bancshares (NASDAQ:NWBI) Upgraded 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.

Northwest Bancshares Trading Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ:NWBI traded down $0.06 on Tuesday, reaching $14.59. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 89,145 shares, compared to its average volume of 719,469. Northwest Bancshares has a 1-year low of $10.45 and a 1-year high of $15.35. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $13.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.54. The firm has a market cap of $1.86 billion, a PE ratio of 19.28 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The savings and loans company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.26. The company had revenue of $199.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $140.80 million. Northwest Bancshares had a net margin of 13.19% and a return on equity of 8.24%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.31 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Northwest Bancshares will post 1.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Northwest Bancshares’s payout ratio is 105.26%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Northwest Bancshares by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 12,699 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $170,000 after purchasing an additional 851 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its position in Northwest Bancshares by 1.6% during the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 64,000 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $739,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its stake in Northwest Bancshares by 1.6% in the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 70,409 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $813,000 after acquiring an additional 1,105 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Northwest Bancshares by 93.7% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,935 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420 shares during the period. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its position in Northwest Bancshares by 1.3% during the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 111,245 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,296,000 after buying an additional 1,446 shares during the last quarter. 66.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.