Amid Collapse, Insiders Snapped Up A Few Regional Bank Stocks At A Dizzying Pace

It's no secret that regional bank stocks have been getting crushed the past few weeks following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, the 16th largest U.S. bank.

In fact, SPDR's Regional Banking ETF KRE is down more than 25% throughout the last month, despite a big rally Tuesday morning. Individual names such as First Republic Bank FRC and Western Alliance Bancorpation WAL are down 85% and 53%, respectively, throughout the last month.

But amid the turmoil, some executives and insiders have been snapping up shares of beaten-down names. 

Here are three regional banking stocks that have had significant insider buying in the past couple of weeks: 

Stifel Financial Corp SF: According to Benzinga's Insider Trades Page, Stifel's CEO Ronald Kruszewski bought more than $1 million worth of shares between March 10 and March 14. While Stifel's stock has not been hit as hard as First Republic or Western Alliance, the stock is still down more than 10% throughout the last month.

Kruszewski's purchases were at $59 and $56.53, respectively, and the stock was trading at around $59.60 Tuesday morning. 

PacWest Bancorp PACW: PacWest's stock has gotten absolutely crushed, down more than 55% in a month. Insiders and executives used this opportunity to snap up around $1.5 million worth of shares, including purchases by the CEO and executive vice president. Visit Benzinga's Insider Trading page for more information on the trades. 

Cullen/Frost Bankers Inc CFR: Insiders at Cullen/Frost, a bank headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, took an opportunity while the stock was down to purchase around $1 million worth of shares. The buys came from the chairman and CEO, director and other insiders. CFR's stock has fared better than First Republic or Western Alliance and is only down around 16% on the month. 

After strong price action in most of the stocks today, these insiders could be sitting on a nice little windfall and celebrating a great trade. Like Warren Buffett famously said, "Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful." 

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