Bank of Hawaii Corp. increased its dividend for the first time since 2008 as first-quarter earnings soared 18.3 percent and topped analysts’ estimates.

The state’s second-largest bank, benefiting from Hawaii’s improving economy, also saw its loan portfolio jump 12.4 percent as the real estate market and construction sector remained strong.

“It was another good quarter,” Peter Ho, chairman, president and CEO of Bank of Hawaii, said Monday. “It was a great start to 2016. We had very solid loan growth. We had solid deposit growth. Expenses were well controlled. And the company continues its focus on improving our service to the community and our customers.”

Bankoh reported net income of $50.2 million, or $1.16 a share, compared with $42.4 million, or 97 cents, in the year-earlier quarter.

The bank also likely averted what has been a recurring question at its annual shareholders meetings by increasing its dividend 6.7 percent to 48 cents from 45 cents. It will be payable June 14 to shareholders of record at the close of business May 31. The last time Bankoh raised its dividend was in December 2008 when it was increased to 45 cents from 44 cents. Bankoh’s next shareholders meeting is Friday.

“We monitor the financial conditions here in Hawaii and globally, and feel that now is the right time to increase the dividend to 48 cents a share,” Ho said.

The higher dividend represents a 2.8 percent annualized yield based on Monday’s closing price of $68.40, which was up 26 cents for the day. The earnings were announced before the market opened.

Bankoh’s net income was boosted in the quarter by an $11.2 million net gain resulting from the sale of shares in Visa Inc., the credit card company. Bankoh sold 100,000 Visa Class B shares. In the year-earlier quarter, Bankoh recorded a $10.1 million net gain from selling its Visa Class B shares. The bank, which now sells its Visa stock only in the first quarter of each year, obtained the shares for its membership stake in the card company when it went public in 2008. As of March 31, Bankoh had 188,714 shares remaining.

The bank also benefited last quarter by returning to its income statement $2 million that was largely due to the full recovery of loans related to a commercial client on Guam. The bank also realized a net gain of $1.5 million from the sale of a real estate property on Guam and an additional net gain of $1.9 million related to sales of leased assets.

“There was a little bit of noise from one-time gains they had, but on a core basis the results were all generally favorable,” said banking analyst Aaron Deer of San Francisco-based Sandler O’Neill. “The loan growth came in at a strong single-digit annualized pace of 9 percent (based on the increase from the fourth quarter to the first quarter). Their net interest margin (the difference between the interest they pay on deposits and the interest they receive on loans) was fairly resilient, and their credit trends were absolutely superb.”

Bankoh’s earnings per share beat by 17 cents the 99-cents consensus estimate by the nine analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial. But Deer cautioned about reading too much into the estimates.

“We recommend disregarding the Street consensus as some, but not all, analysts included Visa gains in their forecasts, making for an invalid comparison,” Deer wrote in a research report following the earnings release.

Deer said he did not include the Visa gains into his estimate and that excluding the Visa gain, a lease sales gain and a property sale gain that he had Bankoh’s earnings forecast for 93 cents, which Bankoh still beat by a penny with a core EPS of 94 cents.

Bankoh’s loans on a year-over-year basis remained robust as commercial loans jumped 10.2 percent from the first quarter of 2015, and consumer loans soared 13.9 percent. Overall loans rose to $8.1 billion from $7.2 billion.

“It’s a real testament to what’s happening in the local marketplace,” Ho said. “Commercial activity is as strong as we’ve seen it in many years, and that activity is resulting in a very strong jobs market, which is providing stimulus on the consumer lending front as well.”

Bankoh’s deposits rose 3.9 percent to $13.5 billion, assets increased 3.4 percent to $15.7 billion and nonperforming assets declined 23.5 percent to $22 million.

With the economy humming along, Bankoh said it should have its remodeled Pearl City branch completed by the end of this year and will break ground shortly on new replacement branches in Manoa, Pearlridge and Kihei.

Ho also said that the bank should be finished by the end of May installing the remainder of its 116 easy-deposit ATMs that allow customers to deposit checks without using an envelope. And he said the bank has plans in the works to significantly upgrade its mobile banking platform.

Ho said the outlook for the state economy for the rest of the year “feels pretty good.”

“We’re the beneficiary of having a very strong performance in each of the primary economic drivers to the islands,” he said. “The visitor industry is strong, defense spending is stable and construction continues to improve.”