Middlefield Banc Corp. (MBCN) To Go Ex-Dividend on February 28th

Middlefield Banc Corp. (NASDAQ:MBCN) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, February 10th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.36%. 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% annually over the last three years. Middlefield Banc has a payout ratio of 38.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MBCN traded down $0.78 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $25.00. The company had a trading volume of 12,407 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,807. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a market cap of $201.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.02 and a beta of 0.70. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $27.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.83. Middlefield Banc has a one year low of $20.61 and a one year high of $34.00.

Middlefield Banc (NASDAQ:MBCN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, equities research analysts anticipate that Middlefield Banc will post 1.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MBCN. StockNews.com raised Middlefield Banc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Hovde Group reduced their target price on 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 boosted their target price on Middlefield Banc from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company 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.