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

First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 7th,RTT News reports. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th.

First Merchants has raised its dividend payment by an average of 7.2% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 14 consecutive years. First Merchants has a dividend payout ratio of 34.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect First Merchants to earn $3.88 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 36.1%.

First Merchants Price Performance

NASDAQ FRME traded down $0.58 on Friday, reaching $44.67. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 252,001 shares, compared to its average volume of 243,948. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $41.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.51. The stock has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a PE ratio of 13.06 and a beta of 1.07. 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 has a twelve month low of $30.55 and a twelve month high of $46.13.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) 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, sell-side analysts predict that First Merchants will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on FRME. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $55.00 price objective (up from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of First Merchants in a report on Friday, January 31st. Hovde Group raised shares of First Merchants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Merchants news, President Michael J. Stewart sold 7,248 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.73, for a total transaction of $316,955.04. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 92,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,052,196.72. The trade was a 7.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.