Bank First Corporation, the Manitowoc, Wisconsin based parent of Bank First N.A., has raised its dividend by 241.9% over the past year, one of the steepest year over year increases among regional bank stocks. The company's board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share on July 21, 2026, payable October 7, 2026, to shareholders of record ahead of the September 23, 2026 ex-dividend date. That declaration annualizes to $2.40 a share. Against a September 29, 2026 closing price of $151.06, down $1.07 or 0.70% on the day, the stock's current yield works out to 1.59%.
The scale of the increase first stood out in data tracked on Dividendly, a Madison Labs research site, which compiles annual dividend totals for 2024 and 2025 to arrive at the 241.9% growth figure. Because the comparison is based on annual totals rather than a single payment jump, the headline percentage reflects the cumulative effect of increases made across the period rather than one large step change in a single quarter.
What the figure means for the company's dividend profile depends on how it is read against Bank First's underlying financials. The trailing twelve month payout ratio, covering the period through June 30, 2026, stood at 25.37%, meaning roughly a quarter of net income over that stretch went toward dividend payments. A payout ratio in that range leaves a wide cushion between earnings and distributions, one reading of the trailing twelve month figures that investors researching the stock may weigh when assessing how much room the board has to keep raising the payment without straining earnings.
Whether that matters to investors depends on what they are looking for. A rapid percentage increase off a modest base can produce a large headline growth rate without necessarily changing the stock's yield dramatically, and Bank First's 1.59% current yield sits below many dividend focused benchmarks even after the increase. The company's dividend history also shows a cut at some point in its recorded payment history, according to the payment record, a detail that sits alongside the recent growth and is relevant context for anyone evaluating consistency rather than just the pace of recent raises. The company has 15 years of dividend payments on record.
Bank First traces its roots to 1894 and operates through 21 branches spread across nine Wisconsin counties, including Manitowoc, Brown, Outagamie, Winnebago, Sheboygan, Waupaca, Ozaukee, Monroe and Jefferson. It adopted its current name in June 2019, having previously operated as Bank First National Corporation. The bank's business spans consumer and commercial banking, including checking, savings, money market and retirement accounts, residential and commercial real estate lending, commercial and industrial loans, construction financing, and consumer installment credit, alongside credit card, insurance, and treasury management services offered to businesses, professionals, individuals, associations and government entities across the state.
The dividend increase comes as broader equity markets showed sharp divergence across sectors. Several large technology and industrial names posted steep single day declines, with Qualcomm down 7.2%, Boeing down 6.9%, Intel down 5.7%, Meta Platforms down 4.8% and Tesla down 3.9%, while Palo Alto Networks gained 4.6%. That kind of volatility in growth oriented and technology names has historically drawn some investor attention toward steadier, income generating sectors such as regional banking, though any shift in positioning reflects individual investor decisions rather than a market wide consensus. Bank First's own stock has traded within a 52 week range of $119.08 to $158.42, with recent daily volume around 86,126 shares as of the September 25, 2026 session, indicating a relatively modestly traded regional bank issue compared with larger cap financial names.
Looking ahead, investors tracking Bank First's dividend will likely watch whether the board continues its pattern of increases at future declaration dates, particularly given the current payout ratio leaves room for further raises without approaching full earnings distribution. The next scheduled payment is set for October 7, 2026, and subsequent board decisions on the dividend rate would typically follow quarterly earnings reports. No specific forward dividend targets or price levels for Bank First shares have been made public by the company or by named third party analysts, and any expectations about future increases remain a matter of investor interpretation of the trailing financial data rather than confirmed company guidance.