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

First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, May 8th, Zacks reports. Investors 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 is Friday, June 7th. This is a positive change 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 annually for the last 12 consecutive years. First Merchants has a 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 Stock Performance

FRME stock traded up $0.14 during trading on Thursday, hitting $35.79. 109,643 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 257,676. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company has a market cap of $2.10 billion, a PE ratio of 10.32 and a beta of 1.08. First Merchants has a 1 year low of $24.52 and a 1 year high of $38.16.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on FRME. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on First Merchants from $41.00 to $42.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research 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.

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.