Northwest Bancshares, Inc. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.20 (NASDAQ:NWBI)

Northwest Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:NWBI) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, April 22nd, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 2nd will be paid a dividend of 0.20 per share by the savings and loans company on Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.23%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 1st.

Northwest Bancshares has raised its dividend by an average of 1.7% per year over the last three years. Northwest Bancshares has a payout ratio of 78.4% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings decline. Analysts expect Northwest Bancshares to earn $1.02 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 78.4%.

Northwest Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NWBI stock opened at $11.06 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $11.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.50. Northwest Bancshares has a 12 month low of $9.80 and a 12 month high of $13.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.43 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Northwest Bancshares (NASDAQ:NWBI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The savings and loans company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23. Northwest Bancshares had a return on equity of 9.21% and a net margin of 19.23%. Equities research analysts forecast that Northwest Bancshares will post 0.95 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northwest Bancshares news, EVP Scott J. Watson bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $12.90 per share, for a total transaction of $64,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president now owns 35,282 shares in the company, valued at approximately $455,137.80. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on NWBI. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Northwest Bancshares from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Northwest Bancshares from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday.

About Northwest Bancshares

Northwest Bancshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Northwest Bank, a state-chartered savings bank that provides personal and business banking solutions. The company accepts various deposits, including checking, savings, money market deposit, term certificate, and individual retirement accounts.