Middlefield Banc Corp. (MBCN) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.21 on March 14th

Middlefield Banc Corp. (NASDAQ:MBCN) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, February 10th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of 0.21 per share by the bank on Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This is an increase from Middlefield Banc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20.

Middlefield Banc has increased its dividend by an average of 7.2% per year over the last three years. Middlefield Banc has a payout ratio of 40.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Middlefield Banc to earn $2.12 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.84 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 39.6%.

Middlefield Banc Trading Up 5.3 %

MBCN opened at $26.39 on Wednesday. Middlefield Banc has a 52 week low of $20.61 and a 52 week high of $34.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.92. The firm has a market cap of $212.99 million, a P/E ratio of 13.74 and a beta of 0.70.

Middlefield Banc (NASDAQ:MBCN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.14. Middlefield Banc had a return on equity of 7.47% and a net margin of 14.31%. On average, equities analysts expect that Middlefield Banc will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

About Middlefield Banc

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.