First Merchants Corporation (FRME) To Go Ex-Dividend on December 5th

by · The Markets Daily

First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME – Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of 0.36 per share by the bank on Friday, December 19th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th.

First Merchants has decreased its dividend by an average of 0.0%per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 13 consecutive years. First Merchants has a payout ratio of 35.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect First Merchants to earn $4.06 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 35.5%.

First Merchants Price Performance

NASDAQ:FRME traded up $0.69 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $37.48. 149,146 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 290,413. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a market cap of $2.17 billion, a PE ratio of 9.37 and a beta of 0.96. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.27. First Merchants has a 1 year low of $33.13 and a 1 year high of $45.62.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.03. First Merchants had a net margin of 22.04% and a return on equity of 9.82%. The business had revenue of $172.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $172.78 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.84 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that First Merchants will post 3.79 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of First Merchants

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Waterfront Wealth Inc. boosted its holdings in First Merchants by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 27,412 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,050,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of First Merchants by 9.9% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,100 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the period. EJF Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 2.6% during the second quarter. EJF Capital LLC now owns 11,884 shares of the bank’s stock worth $455,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 1.5% in the first quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 23,650 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $879,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the period. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in First Merchants by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 54,058 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,070,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About First Merchants

(Get Free Report)

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.

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