First Merchants Corporation Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.37 (NASDAQ:FRME)

First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a dividend of 0.37 per share by the bank on Friday, September 18th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th.

First Merchants has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%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 36.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect First Merchants to earn $4.45 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 33.3%.

First Merchants Stock Down 1.4%

First Merchants stock opened at $40.91 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.11 and a beta of 0.84. First Merchants has a 52-week low of $34.66 and a 52-week high of $45.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $43.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.96.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by ($0.28). First Merchants had a net margin of 17.05% and a return on equity of 8.86%. The firm had revenue of $202.49 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $202.78 million. Equities analysts predict that First Merchants will post 3.94 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FRME has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of First Merchants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on First Merchants from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.00.

First Merchants Company Profile

First Merchants Corporation, through its subsidiary First Merchants Bank, offers a comprehensive suite of banking and financial services to individuals, businesses and public sector clients. The company’s core business activities include retail and commercial banking, lending, treasury and cash management, and wealth advisory services. With a focus on relationship banking, First Merchants seeks to deliver tailored solutions for deposit accounts, loan financing and other credit products.

On the consumer side, First Merchants provides checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, personal and mortgage loans, and electronic banking conveniences.