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MVB Financial (MVBF) Hikes Dividend by 11.1%: Worth a Look?

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MVB Financial (MVBF - Free Report) has raised its quarterly cash dividend by 11.1% to 10 cents per share. The dividend will be paid out on Mar 15 to shareholders of record as on Mar 1, 2021.

Since 2017, MVB Financial has been increasing its dividend annually. Prior to the current hike, the company had raised the dividend last February by 29% to 9 cents per share. This reflects the bank’s commitment to return value to shareholders with its robust cash-generation competencies.

Considering last day’s closing price of $23.90 per share, the dividend yield is currently valued at 1.7%.

According to the company’s president and CEO, Larry Mazza, 2020 turned to be one of the most lucrative years in MVB Financial’s history with record earnings, despite the unprecedented challenges inflicted by Covid-19. The company successfully closed multiple strategic deals, witnessed growth in tangible book value and shareholder value.

Additionally, the company has a share-repurchase plan in place. Last November, MVB Financial announced the modified "Dutch auction" tender offer. Following the closure of this offer in December, the company repurchased 536,490 shares at a price of $20.25 per share, for an aggregate of $10.86 million, excluding fees and expenses. Further, the bank was authorized to repurchase up to $39.2 million additional shares, including those that had not been purchased in the tender offer on or before Dec 31, 2020. Earlier in August 2020, the company had announced to repurchase up to $5 million outstanding shares over the next 12 months.

Investors interested in this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock can have a look at the bank’s fundamentals and growth prospects before making any investment decision. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Revenue Growth: MVB Financial’s revenues witnessed a five-year compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.8% (ended 2019), on increasing net interest income and non-interest income.The company is expected to witness a sales growth of 7.6% in 2020.

Earnings Strength: Over the past three-five years, the bank’s earnings grew at a rate of 62.3%. This momentum is likely to continue as the company’s earnings are projected to be up 11.6% for 2020.

Impressive Share-Price Movement: MVB Financial's shares have surged 76.8% in the past six months compared with 0.5% fall of the industry it belongs to.

 

Superior Return on Equity (ROE): MVB Financial’s ROE of 13.86%, compared with the industry average of 8.83%, highlights the company’s robust position over its peers.

Low Leverage: MVB Financial’s debt/equity ratio is 0.13, compared with the industry average of 0.49, reflecting a considerably lower debt burden. It highlights the company’s financial soundness even in varied economic cycles.

Stock Seems Undervalued: With respect to the price/cash flow and price-sales ratios, MVB Financial seems undervalued. It has a P/CF ratio of 9.18 and a P/S ratio of 1.64, both of which are below the respective industry average of 11.17 and 2.41. Also, MVB Financial has a Value Score of B. The Value Style Score condenses all valuation metrics into one actionable score, which helps investors steer clear of 'value traps' and identify stocks that are truly trading at a discount.

Thus, based on the above-mentioned positives, the stock seems worth investing in. However, margin pressure due to near-zero interest rates is a major concern for the company. Furthermore, a sluggish economic recovery is a headwind. Thus, you must consider these factors before making any decision.

Other Finance Stocks Taking Similar Actions

Since the beginning of 2021, several finance companies have raised their quarterly dividends, including Bank OZK (OZK - Free Report) , and Washington Federal, Inc. (WAFD - Free Report) , T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (TROW - Free Report) . Bank OZK hiked its quarterly dividend by 0.9%, whileWashington Federal increased it by 4.5%. Also, T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has announced a 20% rise in its common stock dividend.

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