First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.37

First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, May 19th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of 0.37 per share by the bank on Friday, June 19th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This is a 2.8% increase from First Merchants’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36.

First Merchants has increased 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 35.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect First Merchants to earn $4.53 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.44 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 31.8%.

First Merchants Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of FRME stock opened at $39.60 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $39.23 and a 200 day moving average of $38.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market cap of $2.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.65 and a beta of 0.86. First Merchants has a twelve month low of $34.66 and a twelve month high of $43.22.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $163.53 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $201.91 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 18.87%.During the same period last year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that First Merchants will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Company Profile

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.