Chemung Financial Co. (NASDAQ:CHMG) Increases Dividend to $0.32 Per Share

Chemung Financial Co. (NASDAQ:CHMG) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 19th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of 0.32 per share by the bank on Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. This is an increase from Chemung Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31.

Chemung Financial has raised its dividend by an average of 1.4% annually over the last three years. Chemung Financial has a payout ratio of 19.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Chemung Financial to earn $6.01 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.24 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 20.6%.

Chemung Financial Price Performance

Shares of CHMG traded up $0.12 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $51.73. 12,069 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,830. The company has a market cap of $246.23 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.43 and a beta of 0.19. Chemung Financial has a 1 year low of $39.00 and a 1 year high of $55.73. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $49.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Chemung Financial (NASDAQ:CHMG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.05. Chemung Financial had a return on equity of 11.47% and a net margin of 15.70%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Chemung Financial will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Chemung Financial

In other Chemung Financial news, Director Joseph F. Iv Meade acquired 592 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was bought at an average price of $47.33 per share, with a total value of $28,019.36. Following the purchase, the director now owns 3,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $175,594.30. This trade represents a 18.99 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 12.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CHMG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Chemung Financial from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Chemung Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Chemung Financial in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $57.00 price objective for the company.

About Chemung Financial

Chemung Financial Corporation operates as a bank holding company for Chemung Canal Trust Company that provides a range of banking, financing, fiduciary, and other financial services. The company provides demand, savings, and time deposits; non-interest and interest-bearing checking accounts; and insured money market accounts.