First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the five analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $42.60.

A number of analysts recently commented on FRME shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on First Merchants from $43.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on First Merchants from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Merchants

In other news, President Michael J. Stewart sold 7,248 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.73, for a total value of $316,955.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 92,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,052,196.72. This represents a 7.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Merchants

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 5.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,475,053 shares of the bank’s stock worth $115,682,000 after acquiring an additional 180,323 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 2.9% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,694,006 shares of the bank’s stock worth $89,683,000 after buying an additional 75,677 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,400,821 shares of the bank’s stock worth $52,120,000 after buying an additional 11,430 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in First Merchants by 1.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 886,088 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,962,000 after purchasing an additional 11,521 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in First Merchants by 0.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 722,148 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,864,000 after purchasing an additional 5,367 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Stock Up 0.8 %

FRME stock opened at $40.27 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.29 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89. First Merchants has a 1-year low of $30.55 and a 1-year high of $46.13. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $41.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.92.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $265.95 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $160.55 million. First Merchants had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 8.94%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.94 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that First Merchants will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.20%.

About First Merchants

First Merchants Corporation operates as the financial holding company for First Merchants Bank that provides community banking services. The company offers a range of financial services, including time, savings, and demand deposits; and consumer, commercial, agri-business, public finance, and real estate mortgage loans.