Published on 26 Nov 2023 on Simply Wall St. via Yahoo Finance

There's A Lot To Like About First Merchants' (NASDAQ:FRME) Upcoming US$0.34 Dividend

Regular readers will know that we love our dividends at Simply Wall St, which is why it's exciting to see First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next three days. The ex-dividend date is one business day before a company's record date, which is the date on which the company determines which shareholders are entitled to receive a dividend. The ex-dividend date is important as the process of settlement involves two full business days. So if you miss that date, you would not show up on the company's books on the record date. Therefore, if you purchase First Merchants' shares on or after the 30th of November, you won't be eligible to receive the dividend, when it is paid on the 15th of December.

The company's upcoming dividend is US$0.34 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of US$1.36 per share to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, First Merchants stock has a trailing yield of around 4.4% on the current share price of $31.04. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. So we need to investigate whether First Merchants can afford its dividend, and if the dividend could grow.

See our latest analysis for First Merchants