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

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

Northwest Bancshares has increased its dividend payment by an average of 1.7% per year over the last three years. Northwest Bancshares has a dividend payout ratio of 78.4% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings tumble. Research 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

NWBI opened at $11.06 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.43 and a beta of 0.60. Northwest Bancshares has a 52-week low of $9.80 and a 52-week high of $13.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.96. The business’s fifty day moving average is $11.32 and its 200-day moving average is $11.50.

Northwest Bancshares (NASDAQ:NWBI) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The savings and loans company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.23. Northwest Bancshares had a return on equity of 9.21% and a net margin of 19.23%. Sell-side analysts expect that Northwest Bancshares will post 0.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Northwest Bancshares from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler reduced 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.

Insider Activity at Northwest Bancshares

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

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.