Northwest Bancshares, Inc., the parent company of Northwest Bank, has been recognized by Forbes as one of America’s 50 Most Trustworthy Financial Companies.

In determining this year’s award winners, Forbes commissioned MSCI ESG Research, an independent research company that reviewed the accounting and governance behaviors of nearly 700 publicly-traded financial companies and scored them based on factors like high-risk events, revenue and expense recognition methods, SEC actions and bankruptcy risk-all of which are considered indicators of a company’s credibility.

The 50 companies named to this year’s list have the highest scores for the past four quarters of the fiscal year. Northwest’s ranking on this year’s list reflects that:

Of the 50 companies, only 14 had a better score than Northwest.

Northwest was the 10th highest ranked bank on the list.

Northwest was the highest ranked bank in all the markets it serves across four states.

Northwest has made Forbes’ Most Trustworthy list four times in the past seven years.

“Northwest’s mission is to build loyalty, trust and value among our employees, customers, communities and shareholders,” said William W. Harvey, Jr., chief financial officer of Northwest Bancshares, Inc. “We look at this recognition by Forbes as validation that our company is achieving success in that endeavor.”

Northwest operates 150 full-service community banking offices and seven free-standing drive through facilities in Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio and Maryland.