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

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

First Merchants has increased its dividend payment by an average of 8.8% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 12 consecutive years. First Merchants has a dividend payout ratio of 39.3% indicating that 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 Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FRME traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $35.81. 85,108 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 257,446. The firm has a market cap of $2.10 billion, a PE ratio of 10.29 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. First Merchants has a fifty-two week low of $24.52 and a fifty-two week high of $38.16. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.49.

Insider Activity

In other First Merchants news, insider Stephan Fluhler sold 3,193 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.17, for a total transaction of $105,911.81. Following the sale, the insider now owns 24,070 shares in the company, valued at approximately $798,401.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.