Ed Lin

Two smaller banks recently saw large insider stock purchases. One beat the market last year, while the other lagged behind.

NB Bancorp stock soared 34% in 2024, while Ally Financial shares eked out a 3.1% rise. For comparison, the Fidelity MSCI Financials Index exchange-traded fund, which includes both banks, rose 28% last year, topping the 23% rise in the S&P 500.

The fortunes both banks' shares were looking up in January. So far this year, NB Bancorp and Ally shares are respectively up 6.1% and 8.2%, while the ETF and index are respectively up 6.5% and 2.7%.

With a market capitalization of $815 million, NB Bancorp of Needham, Mass., is less than a tenth of the size of Detroit-headquartered Ally, with a market cap of $12 billion. NB Bancorp is the holding company of Needham Bank, which has 10 bank locations in the state. That's 10 more than Ally, which is all digital, and has no bricks-and-mortar outlets.

NB Bancorp director Hope Pascucci paid $741,100 on Jan. 24 for 40,000 shares, an average price of $18.53 each. She now owns 40,075 NB Bancorp shares, according to a form Pascucci filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Pascucci is president and principal of Rose Grove Capital Management of Wellesley, Mass., which manages fixed-income credit hedge funds. Rose Grove didn't respond to a request to make Pascucci available for comment on the NB Bancorp stock purchase.

She last purchased NB Bancorp stock in December 2023 when Pasacucci paid $1,030 for 75 shares, an average price of $13.71 each.

Ally CEO Michael Rhodes paid $1 million on Jan. 27 for 25,634 shares, an average price of $39.09 each. It was the initial purchase of Ally stock through a trust that Rhodes controls, and he owns another 261,821 shares in a personal account. It's also the CEO's first open-market purchase of Ally stock. Most of the shares he owns were from an award of restricted stock units. He assumed Ally's CEO post at the end of April 2024.

Russ Hutchinson, Ally chief financial officer, paid $753,475 on Jan. 24 for 19,100 shares, an average price of $39.45 each. He now owns 202,845 shares, and 6,000 preferred series B shares. The transaction by Hutchinson, named CFO in July 2023, is his first open-market purchase of Ally stock. Most of the shares he owns were gleaned through stock awards.

Ally didn't respond to a request to make Rhodes or Hutchinson available for comment.

Inside Scoop is a regular Barron's feature covering stock transactions by corporate executives and board members -- so-called insiders -- as well as large shareholders, politicians, and other prominent figures. Due to their insider status, these investors are required to disclose stock trades with the Securities and Exchange Commission or other regulatory groups.

Write to Ed Lin at edward.lin@barrons.com and follow @BarronsEdLin.

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 03, 2025 06:00 ET (11:00 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.