2 dividend hikes to watch for this week

Companies often establish a pattern of hiking dividends at the same time each year, so it's useful to look at what companies did this time last year. But as we are fast approaching the holidays and year-end, only three firms raised their dividends this time last year through the end of 2021 - and one of these already hiked again this past week (Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC)).

The other two names, detailed below, both have a solid dividend streak of 5+ years, which indicates a stronger-than-usual likelihood of follow-up dividend hikes in the coming days. As always, these results derive from StreetInsider and InvestingPro+ data. Sign up for rapid-fire dividend news.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) raised by 15% last year and currently has an annualized payout of $0.92, a yield of 1.4%, and payout ratio of 15.1%. Its dividend growth streak is 8 years.

ServisFirst has an overall Neutral analyst rating, according to InvestingPro+ data. In its third-quarter release, it missed the consensus analyst estimate by $0.03 per share despite a 22% earnings-per-share increase for the third quarter to $1.17. Shares lost 12.1% in the past five sessions amid a tough week for the financial sector.

Camden National (NASDAQ:CAC) raised by 11.1% last year and currently has an annualized payout of $1.60, a yield of 3.9%, and payout ratio of 36.8%. Its dividend growth streak is 5 years.

The bank has an overall Neutral rating, per InvestingPro+ data, and it reported Q3 EPS of $0.97 - $0.13 worse than the analyst estimate of $1.10 and a 5% drop from the prior year. Revenue for the quarter came in at $44.58 million versus the consensus estimate of $48.42 million. Shares were down 2.6% for the week.

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