As an investor who likes the idea of companies returning more and more to their shareholders through various types of dividend-related events (such as increases and decreases of a company's annualized dividend and the announcement of stock buybacks) I wanted to highlight one particular company that has recently announced a 2.2% increase in its regular quarterly payout.

Bar Harbor Bankshares (BHB) – On Tuesday, October 21, Bar Harbor Bankshares, which now possesses a forward yield of 3.20% ($0.94/share annualized), announced a 2.2% or $0.005/share increase, from its prior payout of $0.23/share, for the upcoming quarter.

Headquartered in Bar Harbor, Maine, Bar Harbor Bankshares operates as the holding company for Bar Harbor Bank & Trust that provides various banking products and services in Maine. It accepts various retail deposit products, such as checking accounts, interest bearing NOW accounts, money market accounts, savings accounts, club accounts, short-term and long-term certificates of deposit, health savings accounts, and individual retirement accounts; and commercial deposit accounts, including checking and tiered money market accounts.

Based on Tuesday’s closing price of $29.12/share, Bar Harbor Bankshares now has a market capitalization of $172.68 million, a P/E ratio of 11.98, and a forward yield of 3.20% ($0.94). Its trend behavior, although positive in both the near-term and the long-term (given the fact shares are trading 0.68% above their 20-DSMA, 3.08% above their 50-DSMA, and 10.58% above their 200-DSMA), should get a boost from its upcoming earnings which are due out on October 24. If the company can demonstrate a very solid quarter and surpass Wall Street’s expectations of $0.62/share in terms of EPS, I strongly believe we could see its shares reach a sustainable range of $30.75/share-to-$33.00/share by late-November.

Conclusion

For those of you who may be considering a position in Bar Harbor Bankshares, I strongly recommend keeping a close eye on both the company's dividend and earnings behavior over the next 12-18 months as each of these catalysts should directly impact the long-term value of the company shares.