Glacier Bancorp (GBCI) Rewards Investors With 3.1% Dividend Hike
Glacier Bancorp, Inc. GBCI recently declared a quarterly dividend of 33 cents per share, representing a 3.1% hike from its prior payout. This marks the company’s 148th consecutive quarterly dividend. GBCI has increased its dividend 49 times.
The dividend will be paid out on Apr 21 to its stockholders of record as of Apr 12, 2022. Based on last day’s closing price of $50.98, the company’s dividend yield currently stands at 2.6%, higher than the industry’s yield of 2.1%. This yield is not only attractive for income investors, but also represents a steady income stream.
Prior to this, the company had hiked its dividend by 3.2% and 3.3% in June and March 2021, respectively. The company also pays special dividends from time to time. It paid 10 cent, 15 cents and 20 cents as special dividend in January 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
Its past performance depicts a robust earnings picture. Glacier Bancorp recorded an earnings growth rate of 16.1% over the last three to five years, higher than the industry’s growth of 10.2%. If this momentum continues in the upcoming period, such dividends are here to stay. The company’s earnings are projected to grow 15.8% year over year in 2023. However, a decline of 3.2% is expected for 2022.
The recent interest rate hike of 25 basis points by the Federal Reserve and more signaled hikes are expected to bolster the net interest income, and thereby, revenues of the company. Further, supported by its strong organic growth, which was in turn driven by higher loans and deposits, Glacier Bancorp’s fundamentals are likely to remain robust. Hence, it is expected to continue with efficient capital deployment activities. Through this, GBCI will keep enhancing shareholder value.
Over the past three months, shares of GBCI have declined lost 11.1%, underperforming the 6.7% decline of the industry it belongs to.
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Glacier Bancorp currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank(Strong Buy) stocks here.
Other Banks Taking Similar Steps
Over the past few months, several banks have rewarded their shareholders with dividend hikes. Some of these are Northrim BanCorp NRIM and Farmers National Banc Corp. FMNB.
Northrim approved a regular quarterly cash dividend of 41 cents per share, up 7.9% from its prior payout.
The dividend was paid out on Mar 18 to its shareholders on record as of Mar 10, 2022. Prior to this, NRIM had hiked its dividend in August 2021 by 2.7% to 38 cents.
Farmers National announced a dividend of 16 cents per share, representing a 14.3% sequential rise. The dividend is scheduled to be paid out on Mar 31 to its shareholders on record as of Mar 11, 2022.
The recent dividend hike marks the seventh consecutive quarter of an increase by Farmers National. Before this, FMNB had hiked its dividend by 27% to 14 cents per share in August 2021.
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