Middlefield Banc Corp. (NASDAQ:MBCN) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.21 Per Share

Middlefield Banc Corp. (NASDAQ:MBCN) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 11th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of 0.21 per share by the bank on Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from Middlefield Banc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20.

Middlefield Banc has raised its dividend by an average of 7.2% per year over the last three years. Middlefield Banc has a payout ratio of 38.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Middlefield Banc to earn $2.12 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 37.7%.

Middlefield Banc Trading Down 3.5 %

Shares of Middlefield Banc stock traded down $0.93 on Tuesday, hitting $25.78. The stock had a trading volume of 6,532 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,702. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.85. Middlefield Banc has a one year low of $20.61 and a one year high of $34.00. The stock has a market cap of $208.04 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.43 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Middlefield Banc (NASDAQ:MBCN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.14. Middlefield Banc had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 7.47%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Middlefield Banc will post 1.96 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MBCN. StockNews.com raised shares of Middlefield Banc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Hovde Group lowered their price objective on shares of Middlefield Banc from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Middlefield Banc from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

Middlefield Banc Company Profile

Middlefield Banc Corp. operates as the bank holding company for The Middlefield Banking Company that provides various commercial banking services to small and medium-sized businesses, professionals, small business owners, and retail customers in northeastern and central Ohio. It offers checking, savings, negotiable order of withdrawal accounts, money market accounts, time certificates of deposit, commercial loans, real estate loans, various consumer loans, safe deposit facilities, and travelers' checks.