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

First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 7th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of 0.35 per share by the bank on Friday, March 21st. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th.

First Merchants has increased its dividend payment by an average of 7.2% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 14 consecutive years. First Merchants has a dividend payout ratio of 33.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect First Merchants to earn $4.09 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 34.2%.

First Merchants Price Performance

NASDAQ FRME traded up $1.02 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $45.19. The company had a trading volume of 173,550 shares, compared to its average volume of 240,380. The company has a market capitalization of $2.65 billion, a PE ratio of 13.21 and a beta of 1.07. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $41.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.57. First Merchants has a twelve month low of $30.55 and a twelve month high of $46.13.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.10. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.23% and a net margin of 18.76%. As a group, analysts anticipate that First Merchants will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on FRME. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $55.00 price target (up previously from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on First Merchants from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Hovde Group upgraded First Merchants from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $50.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Merchants has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $49.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Michael J. Stewart sold 7,248 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.73, for a total transaction of $316,955.04. Following the sale, the president now owns 92,664 shares in the company, valued at $4,052,196.72. The trade was a 7.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.