First Merchants Corporation (FRME) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.37 on September 18th

First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a dividend of 0.37 per share by the bank on Friday, September 18th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th.

First Merchants has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 13 years. First Merchants has a payout ratio of 36.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect First Merchants to earn $4.45 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 33.3%.

First Merchants Price Performance

FRME stock opened at $40.91 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.11 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.96. First Merchants has a 52-week low of $34.66 and a 52-week high of $45.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.02 by ($0.28). First Merchants had a net margin of 17.05% and a return on equity of 8.86%. The business had revenue of $202.49 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $202.78 million. Research analysts expect that First Merchants will post 3.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on FRME shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 17th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of First Merchants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of First Merchants from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, First Merchants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.00.

About First Merchants

First Merchants Corporation, through its subsidiary First Merchants Bank, offers a comprehensive suite of banking and financial services to individuals, businesses and public sector clients. The company’s core business activities include retail and commercial banking, lending, treasury and cash management, and wealth advisory services. With a focus on relationship banking, First Merchants seeks to deliver tailored solutions for deposit accounts, loan financing and other credit products.

On the consumer side, First Merchants provides checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, personal and mortgage loans, and electronic banking conveniences.