BANGOR – Merrill Merchants Bancshares Inc., the parent company of Merrill Merchants Bank, has declared a 3 percent stock dividend to all shareholders of record as of March 31 for distribution on April 7, the company announced recently.

It is the 11th consecutive year the company has paid a stock dividend, according to Edwin Clift, chairman and CEO of the company.

The bank also has declared a cash dividend of 17 cents per share on its common stock for the first quarter of 2006. This represents an increase of 17 percent over the first quarter dividend from 2005. The cash dividend will be payable to all shareholders of record as of April 14 and will be paid on April 28.

The bank’s annual shareholders’ meeting has been scheduled for 5 p.m. Thursday, May 4, at Bangor Motor Inn on Hogan Road.

Merrill Merchants Bank provides consumer, commercial, trust and investment services at its 11 locations in central and eastern Maine.