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

Northwest Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:NWBI - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, April 22nd, Zacks reports. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 1st.

Northwest Bancshares has increased its dividend by an average of 1.7% annually 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 tumble. Equities 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 Price Performance

NASDAQ NWBI traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $11.00. The company had a trading volume of 1,131,487 shares, compared to its average volume of 814,634. The company has a market capitalization of $1.40 billion, a PE ratio of 10.25 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. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $11.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.50. Northwest Bancshares has a twelve month low of $9.80 and a twelve month high of $13.07.

Northwest Bancshares (NASDAQ:NWBI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The savings and loans company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.23. Northwest Bancshares had a return on equity of 9.21% and a net margin of 19.23%. The company had revenue of $188.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $132.80 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Northwest Bancshares will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NWBI. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $12.00 price target (down previously from $13.00) on shares of Northwest Bancshares in a research note on Tuesday. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Northwest Bancshares from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 price of $12.90 per share, for a total transaction of $64,500.00. Following the transaction, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.