WARREN — Northwest Bancshares Inc. announced net income for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 of $40.2 million, or $0.32 per diluted share.

This represents an increase of $32.3 million compared to the same quarter last year when net income was $7.9 million, or $0.07 per diluted share. The annualized returns on average shareholders’ equity and average assets for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 were 10.61% and 1.17% compared to 2.37% and 0.30% for the same quarter last year.

The company also announced that its board of directors increased the quarterly cash dividend by 5.3% to $0.20 per share payable on May 17, 2021 to shareholders of record as of May 6, 2021. This is the 106th consecutive quarter in which the company has paid a cash dividend. Based on the market value of the company’s common stock as of March 31, 2021, this represents an annualized dividend yield of approximately 5.5%.