First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.35

First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 14th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of 0.35 per share by the bank on Friday, December 20th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th.

First Merchants has raised its dividend by an average of 8.8% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 13 consecutive years. First Merchants has a dividend payout ratio of 39.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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 Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ FRME traded down $0.12 during trading on Thursday, reaching $43.45. The company had a trading volume of 204,372 shares, compared to its average volume of 259,771. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $37.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.90 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. First Merchants has a 12 month low of $30.20 and a 12 month high of $45.08.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Hovde Group initiated coverage on First Merchants in a report on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Stephens cut shares of 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. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on First Merchants from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, First Merchants currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.