We expect Northwest Bancshares (NWBI), the holding company of Northwest bank, to payout $0.72 in 2019, which is 5.9% higher than that paid in 2019. Our dividend expectation implies a forward dividend yield of 4.22%. We expect the dividend growth to be driven by a slight increase in earnings for 2019; however, we caution that the company's payout ratio is high at 67.7%, which increases its riskiness. Our valuation analysis shows that the stock is somewhat fairly valued.
Net Interest Income to Support Earnings Growth
We expect NWBI's net interest income to rise