First Merchants Co. (FRME) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.35 on December 20th

First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, November 12th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of 0.35 per share by the bank on Friday, December 20th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th.

First Merchants has increased its dividend by an average of 8.8% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 13 years. First Merchants has a dividend payout ratio of 39.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect First Merchants to earn $3.52 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 39.8%.

First Merchants Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FRME traded down $0.12 during trading on Thursday, reaching $43.45. 206,541 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 259,781. First Merchants has a 12-month low of $30.20 and a 12-month high of $45.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market cap of $2.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.34 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.11.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $265.95 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $160.55 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 16.94%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that First Merchants will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on FRME. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Hovde Group began coverage on First Merchants in a research note on Monday, August 12th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on First Merchants from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Stephens lowered First Merchants from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $38.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.60.

First Merchants Company Profile

First Merchants Corporation operates as the financial holding company for First Merchants Bank that provides community banking services. The company offers a range of financial services, including time, savings, and demand deposits; and consumer, commercial, agri-business, public finance, and real estate mortgage loans.