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With banks seeing strong financial results and expecting those returns to continue this year, several local institutions have recently announced plans to reward shareholders and increase their quarterly dividends.

Eastern Bank’s shareholders learned this week that the bank would not only make its first acquisition since its initial public offering but would also make the first increase to its quarterly dividend.

In announcing plans to acquire Century Bank, Eastern Bank said it would increase its quarterly dividend by 33 percent to $0.08 per share. After converting to a stock bank in October, Eastern paid its first quarterly dividend last quarter. The bank said in a statement that the increase was part of its overall capital management strategy.

“Our pro forma capital levels remain robust post-merger, and we remain ready to continue to strategically deploy our capital and deliver shareholder value,” Eastern Bank CEO and Chairman Bob Rivers said in the statement. “The increase in our dividend, which was initiated just last quarter, is further evidence of that commitment.”

Brockton-based HarborOne Bank, which went fully public in 2019 and paid its first dividend in July 2020, will increase its quarterly dividend by two-thirds, from $0.03 to $0.05 per share. The dividend will be paid at the end of April.

“The dividend increase is well supported by our current and projected earnings as we continue executing our business plan,” CEO James W. Blake said in a statement last week.

Joseph F. Casey, the bank’s president and chief operating officer, added that HarborOne’s strong financial performance allowed the company to increase the dividend and still maintain sufficient capital to support the bank’s strategic growth initiatives.

Hingham Institution for Savings has paid a quarterly dividend for 109 consecutive quarters over the past 26 years, Chairman and CEO Robert H. Gaughen Jr. said in a statement, and the bank will have a small increase this quarter too. The bank will pay a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.49 per share later this month, a 4 percent increase over the last quarterly dividend of $0.47 per share.

“The bank continues to produce strong returns on equity capital,” Gaughen said. “The bank regularly considers all capital allocation options and continues to return capital to the ownership through both regular and special dividends.”

Stockholders of East Boston Savings Bank’s parent company saw its dividend increase this month by 25 percent. The bank last week paid $0.10 per common share, an increase of $0.02. Like several other banks, East Boston Savings Bank recently adopted a stock repurchase program as well.

“Consistent with our commitment to enhancing stockholder value, our board of directors approved this stock repurchase program and 25 percent increase in our dividend, to an annualized rate of $0.40 per share, based on our expected earnings trends and continued strength of our asset quality,” Richard Gavegnano, East Boston Savings Bank’s chairman, president and CEO said in a statement.