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

First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, November 12th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis 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% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 13 years. First Merchants has a payout ratio of 39.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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

NASDAQ FRME traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $43.45. The company had a trading volume of 206,541 shares, compared to its average volume of 259,781. The business has a 50 day moving average of $37.78 and a 200-day moving average of $36.11. The company has a market cap of $2.55 billion, a PE ratio of 14.34 and a beta of 1.01. First Merchants has a 1-year low of $30.20 and a 1-year high of $45.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last released 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). First Merchants had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 16.94%. The firm had revenue of $265.95 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $160.55 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that First Merchants will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

About First Merchants

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.