Capital

Higher dividends and more aggressive repurchase programs are bound to attract more investors, which could boost stock prices and prompt more dealmaking, analysts said.

The North Carolina company's purchase of Chattahoochee Bank will add a branch and loan production office to its existing operations in northern Georgia.

The $231 million-asset Virginia bank will also double its legal lending limit when it buys CCB Bancshares.

The Georgia bank will pay $124 million for Four Oaks Fincorp, buying a bank with a large operation in Raleigh, N.C.

Meridian had been looking to expand in certain Boston suburbs before agreeing to buy Meetinghouse Bancorp for $17.8 million.

The company will also gain its first branches in New Mexico after it buys Peoples Inc.

Byline Bancorp's decision to go public sends a message that it plans to dangle a more liquid stock in front of potential sellers. It also provides a way for certain shareholders to cash out.

The offering would be a big milestone for Byline Bancorp, which was recapitalized in 2013 by a group led by former Banco Popular North America CEO Roberto Herencia.

Beacon Community Bank seeks to become the first new bank in South Carolina in roughly a decade.

Pinnacle Financial Partners closed in on $20 billion in assets by buying BNC. It now has to integrate the North Carolina bank, while finding ways to boost profit and adapt to increased regulatory burden.

Adding Community 1st Bank would help it expand in northern California.

AloStar was formed in 2011 by an investor group that bought the failed Nexity Bank in Birmingham, Ala.

Casey Crawford, head of the rapidly growing Movement Mortgage, recently recapitalized First State Bank in Danville, Va., with his own money.

The Indiana company will pay $92 million for Wolverine Bancorp

The company will pay about $219 million for Diboll State Bancshares.

The company agreed to pay $162 million to buy First South Bancorp in Washington, N.C. It is the fifth time this year that a bank in North Carolina has agreed to be sold to a buyer from another state.

The Illinois company agreed to pay $44 million to buy Guaranty Bank, the biggest institution based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

MidSouth Bancorp in Louisiana, which faces a formal order from its regulators, will cut jobs, close branches and slash its dividend as it works to reduce its energy exposure.

Beacon Community Bank aims to become the first bank to open in Charleston, S.C., in a decade.

BCB Bancorp will pay $20 million for Indus American Bank, a New Jersey institution that focuses on the South Asian-American business community. Indus American lost a total of $2.5 million in 2015 and 2016.