BancorpSouth (BXS) Declares $0.17 Quarterly Dividend; 2.4% Yield

BancorpSouth (NYSE: BXS) declared a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share, or $0.68 annualized.

The dividend will be payable on April 1, 2019, to stockholders of record on March 15, 2019, with an ex-dividend date of March 14, 2019.

The annual yield on the dividend is 2.4 percent.

"The financial results for 2018 reflect several meaningful accomplishments achieved by our team through continued hard work and dedication," remarked Dan Rollins, BancorpSouth Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Our earnings for the year are a record for our Company, both in terms of net income of $221.3 million and diluted earnings per share of $2.23, which represents an increase of over 30 percent on a per share basis. Additionally, our Company exceeded $18 billion in total assets for the first time in our history. This growth was achieved through continued organic loan growth combined with the closing and integration of the first three bank transactions that our Company has completed since 2007. We were particularly pleased with our ability to achieve approximately 10 percent organic loan growth in Texas."

"Most recently, we closed the merger with Icon Capital Corporation effective October 1, 2018 and completed the operational systems integration later in the fourth quarter. This growth, combined with a continued focus on controlling expenses, aided us in improving our operating efficiency ratio – excluding MSR – to 66.6 percent for 2018. Additionally, we reported an increase in our net interest margin for the year while maintaining stable credit quality. Finally, in addition to the capital deployed in our growth efforts, we repurchased 6 million shares of our Company's stock during the year."

"As we look specifically at fourth quarter results, the story and accomplishments are a microcosm of our annual results. First, we are excited about the recent transaction announcements with Merchants Bank and Grand Bank of Texas. We are optimistic about the value they will add to our bank and we look forward to having them formally join our team in 2019. As we look at our financial results for the quarter, we are pleased to report another record quarter of net operating income – excluding MSR – which increased to $0.57 per share compared to $0.56 per share for the third quarter of 2018 despite seasonal quarterly headwinds associated with several of our product offerings. The increase in earnings was achieved largely through improvement in our net interest margin – excluding accretable yield – which increased to 3.71 percent for the fourth quarter compared to 3.62 percent for the third quarter of 2018. Finally, of the 6 million shares repurchased during 2018, approximately 3 million were repurchased during the fourth quarter."

For a dividend history and other dividend-related data on BancorpSouth (BXS) click here.

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