Business
Northwest Bancshares, Inc. Announces Fourth Quarter 2019 Earnings and Quarterly Dividend Increase
WARREN, Pa., Jan. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Northwest Bancshares, Inc., (the "Company"), (NasdaqGS: NWBI) announced net income for the quarter ended December
About this update from Northwest Bancshares, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"WARREN, Pa., Jan. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Northwest Bancshares, Inc., (the \"Company\"), (NasdaqGS: NWBI) announced net income for the quarter ended December 31, 2019 of $25.6 million, or $0.24 per diluted share. This represents a decrease of $876,000, or 3.3%, compared to the same quarter last year when net income was $26.5 million or $0.26 per diluted share. The annualized returns on average shareholders' equity and average assets for the quarter ended December 31, 2019 were 7.52% and 0.97% compared to 8.44% and 1.09% for the same quarter last year.\n\n \n \n\n \nThe Company also announced that its Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.19 per share payable on February 14, 2020 to shareholders of record as of February 6, 2020. This is the 101st consecutive quarter in which the Company has paid a cash dividend and represents a 5.6% increase over the prior year. Based on the market value of the Company's stock as of December 31, 2019, this represents an annualized dividend yield of approximately 4.57%.\nIn making this announcement, Ronald J. Seiffert, Chairman, President and CEO, noted, \"While the fourth quarter was negatively impacted by a loan loss provision for a recently classified C&I loan, costs associated with litigation settlements as well as a continued decline in net interest margin as expected, overall we were very pleased with our annual 2019 results. Annual net income of $110.4 million, or $1.04 per diluted share, exceeded the prior year net income of $105.5 million, or $1.02 per diluted share, by $4.9 million or almost 5.0%. For the year, loans grew $757.2 million, or 9.4%, with approximately half of this growth coming from the Union Community Bank acquisition and the other half coming from internal growth. In addition, we were able to fund this growth almost entirely with internal deposit growth. Noninterest income experienced exceptional growth for the year of $7.7 million, or 8.4%, across almost all categories. Our mortgage banking operation is beginning to contribute in a meaningful way, brokerage investment revenue increased by over 7% and recent changes in the fourth quarter in our fees and fee income philosophy will benefit us going into 2020. Finally, we look forward to welcoming the MutualBank employees and customers in April along with their $2.1 billion balance sheet and expected e...