First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Declares Dividend Increase – $0.35 Per Share

First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, May 8th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a dividend of 0.35 per share by the bank on Friday, June 21st. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This is an increase from First Merchants’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34.

First Merchants has raised its dividend by an average of 8.8% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 12 years. First Merchants has a dividend payout ratio of 39.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect First Merchants to earn $3.49 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.36 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 39.0%.

First Merchants Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of First Merchants stock traded up $0.14 on Thursday, hitting $35.79. The stock had a trading volume of 109,643 shares, compared to its average volume of 257,676. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $33.89 and a 200 day moving average of $33.49. First Merchants has a twelve month low of $24.52 and a twelve month high of $38.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.32 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on FRME. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on First Merchants from $41.00 to $42.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Raymond James lifted their price target on First Merchants from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com raised First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Stephan Fluhler sold 3,193 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.17, for a total transaction of $105,911.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,070 shares in the company, valued at $798,401.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.40% of the stock is owned by 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.