Stonegate to pay dividend

FORT LAUDERDALE — Stonegate Bank, which has acquired four struggling Gulf Coast banks in recent years, announced plans to pay a dividend to its shareholders.

The publicly traded bank (symbol: SGBK; recent price: $17) plans to pay shareholders 8 cents per common share in 2012. Stonegate plans to pay the dividend semi-annually, so each dividend payment will be 4 cents per share. The first dividend payment totaling $329,615 will be paid May 25 to shareholders of record on May 10.

In recent years, Fort Lauderdale-based Stonegate has acquired Fort Myers-based Southwest Capital Bank, First Commercial Bank of Tampa Bay and two banks in Naples: Partners Bank and Hillcrest Bank.

Stonegate is a state-chartered commercial bank with $899 million in assets as of March 31.