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

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) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th.

First Merchants has raised its dividend by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 13 consecutive years. First Merchants has a payout ratio of 36.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research 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 Stock Down 1.4%

FRME opened at $40.91 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $43.00 and a 200-day moving average of $40.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.11 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. First Merchants has a 1-year low of $34.66 and a 1-year high of $45.33.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by ($0.28). The company had revenue of $202.49 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $202.78 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 8.86% and a net margin of 17.05%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that First Merchants will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current year.

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.