People watch stocks for different reasons -- they're waiting for a dip in price, watching for a specific catalyst, gathering all the news and information that might affect stocks they already own, or considering a sell. Regardless of their motivation, we can better understand market sentiment by seeing who's watching what. With the Fool's free My Watchlist service, we have tens of thousands of people telling us the businesses that have, for whatever reason, piqued their interest.

The most-watched commercial bank stock is ...
Looking at the aggregate data, we see that Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) is above the rest in terms of watch interest, the percentage of people keeping an eye on commercial bank stocks in general who are specifically watching each company. And for good reason. As CAPS member exchequer23 wrote last month: "One of the best in class, seems undervalued given its loan book and exposure to the current thinking on anticipated problem areas for financial institutions."

Here are the rest of the 15 most-watched companies in the industry with their watch interest along with the stocks' CAPS rating to show the sentiment of our investing community.

 

Company

Market Cap (millions)

CAPS Rating (out of 5)

Watch Interest

1

Wells Fargo $169,264 *** 18.8%

2

Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior $649 ***** 12.1%

3

Bank of Hawaii $2,304 **** 6.2%

4

Allied Irish Banks (NYSE: AIB) $399 *** 5.5%

5

National Bank of Greece (NYSE: NBG) $8,510 **** 5.1%

6

Banco Santander (NYSE: STD) $100,860 **** 4.1%

7

US Bancorp $51,370 *** 3.8%

8

Huntington Bancshares (Nasdaq: HBAN) $5,886 ** 2.9%

9

CIT Group $8,568 ** 1.9%

10

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE: LYG) $66,030 **** 1.9%

11

BB&T $19,222 *** 1.9%

12

PNC Financial Services $33,485 ** 1.8%

13

The Toronto-Dominion Bank $75,870 *** 1.7%

14

Umpqua $1,313 **** 1.5%

15

Regions Financial (NYSE: RF) $9,170 ** 1.4%

Sources: Motley Fool, Motley Fool CAPS.

Whether you're keeping an eye on the industry stalwarts like Wells Fargo or are watching an up-and-comer like Umpqua, it pays to watch. We can help you keep tabs on your companies with My Watchlist, our free, personalized stock tracking service. Click here to start now.