Scott Watson, CIO at
Northwest Bancshares (NWBI), recently bought 5,000 shares. The buy increased his stake by 20 percent, and came to a total cost just over $61,000.
This marks the first buy since a company director bought 1,675 shares back in June. And a cluster of directors bought back in May, and the company CEO picked up shares in late April. A few EVPs have been sellers of shares in small amounts in the past few months.
Overall, company insiders own about 1 percent of the Ohio-based bank.
Shares slid earlier this year, amid two bank failures. But shares have started to trend higher in recent weeks.
Northwest trades at about book value now, compared to 1.2 times book value before the banking crisis. And shares go for about 12 times earnings, a notable discount to the overall stock market.
Action to take: Shares look like a reasonable buy here, or on any drop to under book value. The company just added a dividend, that works out to about 6.5 percent at current prices, a great yield for income investors.
For traders, shares are likely to trend higher. The November $12.50 calls are an at-the-money trade. Last going for about $0.55, they could see mid-double-digit returns in the months ahead on a continued rally.
Disclosure: The author of this article has no position in the company mentioned here, but may trade after the next 72 hours. The author receives no compensation from any of the companies mentioned in this article.