Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Buys 5,977 Shares of Northwest Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:NWBI)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its stake in Northwest Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:NWBI) by 13.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 50,468 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,977 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Northwest Bancshares were worth $630,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Northwest Bancshares by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,917,212 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $50,303,000 after acquiring an additional 230,058 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Northwest Bancshares by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,503,007 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $35,836,000 after buying an additional 138,879 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Northwest Bancshares by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 34,584 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $354,000 after buying an additional 3,540 shares during the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northwest Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth about $253,000. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund bought a new stake in shares of Northwest Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth about $745,000. 66.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on NWBI shares. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Northwest Bancshares from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $12.00 price target (down from $13.00) on shares of Northwest Bancshares in a research note on Tuesday.

Northwest Bancshares Stock Down 0.6 %

NWBI stock opened at $10.82 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $11.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.50. The company has a market capitalization of $1.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.50 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Northwest Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $9.80 and a 12 month high of $13.07.

Northwest Bancshares (NASDAQ:NWBI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The savings and loans company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23. Northwest Bancshares had a net margin of 17.84% and a return on equity of 8.77%. The firm had revenue of $188.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $132.80 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Northwest Bancshares, Inc. will post 0.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Northwest Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.39%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 1st. Northwest Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.67%.

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.