Back to top

Image: Bigstock

TriCo Bancshares (TCBK) Hikes Dividend by 20%: Worth a Look?

Read MoreHide Full Article

TriCo Bancshares (TCBK - Free Report) hiked its quarterly cash dividend. The company’s board of directors announced a dividend of 30 cents per share, representing a hike of 20% from the prior payout. The dividend will be paid out on Sep 23, 2022, to stockholders of record as of Sep 9.

Considering the last day’s closing price, the company’s dividend yield currently stands at 2.6%. The yield is not only attractive to income investors but also represents a steady income stream.

Before the hike, TCBK announced a dividend hike of 13.6% in March 2021. The dividend was raised from 22 cents per share to 25 cents. The dividend was paid out on Mar 26, 2021, to shareholders of record as of Mar 12, 2021.

Investors interested in the Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock can have a look at its fundamentals and growth opportunities. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

TriCo Bancshares’ performance depicts a robust earnings picture. Over the last three-five years, the company’s earnings witnessed growth of 11%. While earnings are projected to decline marginally in 2022, the same will likely bounce back and increase after that. In 2023, the company’s earnings are projected to grow 12.7%.

TCBK’s revenues have witnessed a compound annual growth rate of 10.6% over the last five years (2017-2021), with the uptrend continuing in the first half of 2022. The positive momentum is expected to continue in the near term, as reflected by the company’s projected sales growth rates of 18.3% and 9.3% for 2022 and 2023, respectively.

Moreover, TCBK currently has a debt/equity ratio of 0.13, lower than the industry average of 0.19. This shows that the company will be more financially stable than its peers, even in adverse economic conditions.

However, the stock looks overvalued right now when compared with the industry average. It currently has a price/book ratio of 1.54, higher than the industry’s 1.27. Also, its price/cash flow ratio of 10.33 compares unfavorably with the industry average of 9.19.

Looking at its price performance, shares of the company have gained 17.8% in the past year against the industry’s decline of 12.3%.

 

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

 

Dividend Hikes Announced by Other Finance Companies

Essent Group Ltd. (ESNT - Free Report) announced that its board of directors sequentially hiked the quarterly cash dividend by 4.8% to 22 cents per common share. The dividend will be paid out on Sep 12 to shareholders of record as of Sep 1, 2022.

Notably, Essent Group has ample liquidity and financial flexibility, with $619 million in cash and available investment for sale, and $400 million of unused credit facility capacity. A fortified balance sheet might aid ESNT in continuing dividend payments.

The Charles Schwab Corporation (SCHW - Free Report) declared a quarterly cash dividend of 22 cents per share, marking a 10% increase from the prior payout. The dividend was paid out on Aug 26 to shareholders of record as of Aug 12, 2022.

Apart from the dividend hike, Schwab replaced its previous share repurchase program of $1.8 billion and is now authorized to repurchase shares worth $15 billion under the new program. As of Jun 30, 2022, SCHW had 1.904 billion weighted-average common and common equivalent shares outstanding.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


The Charles Schwab Corporation (SCHW) - free report >>

TriCo Bancshares (TCBK) - free report >>

Essent Group Ltd. (ESNT) - free report >>

Published in