National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) shares opened lower today, as the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) drifts mostly sideways.
The downwards movement in NAB's share price comes despite its fully-owned U.S. subsidiary, National Americas Holdings LLC, saying it will seek a secondary public offering for its shares in Great Western Bancorp.
Great Western Bancorp is an agribusiness and business bank which had, until October 2014, been fully owned by NAB.
Whilst not as bad as its UK operations, NAB's U.S. assets have long been a distraction for management.
That is until Andrew Thorburn was appointed the bank's CEO in August 2014. He has made inroads in divesting all of the bank's non-core assets outside Australia and New Zealand.
NAB has already relinquished around 30% of its ownership of Great Western Bancorp through its initial public offering (IPO) last year, but it is likely the bank will seek to rid itself of the entire holding as soon as possible.
The UK operations, where NAB owns Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks, are also believed to be up for sale.
Should you buy NAB shares now?
NAB shares have been flying in 2015 – up 15% so far. This comes despite the bank's UK subsidiaries remaining in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons and consensus forecasts for a slowdown in the domestic economy.
A slowdown wouldn't be good news for NAB, or its peers Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC).
Moreover, at a current price of $38.40, NAB stock doesn't come cheap. Therefore investors are advised to avoid buying shares, for now.
