First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Analysts

Shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the four ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $45.00.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up previously from $43.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Monday. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on First Merchants from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. StockNews.com upgraded First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Stephens upped their price target on shares of First Merchants from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday.

First Merchants Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FRME traded down $0.62 on Monday, reaching $40.73. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 48,472 shares, compared to its average volume of 256,255. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.12. First Merchants has a 52-week low of $25.70 and a 52-week high of $42.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a market cap of $2.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.74 and a beta of 1.04.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.10). First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 17.77%. The company had revenue of $267.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $156.35 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.02 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that First Merchants will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This is a positive change from First Merchants’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.44%. First Merchants’s payout ratio is 40.35%.

Insider Transactions at First Merchants

In related news, Director Patrick J. Fehring sold 23,936 shares of First Merchants stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.51, for a total value of $778,159.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 122,706 shares in the company, valued at $3,989,172.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in First Merchants by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,571,539 shares of the bank’s stock worth $243,673,000 after purchasing an additional 32,126 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in First Merchants by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,074,407 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $114,001,000 after buying an additional 211,113 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in First Merchants by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 978,469 shares of the bank’s stock worth $36,282,000 after acquiring an additional 89,816 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of First Merchants by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 853,075 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $31,632,000 after purchasing an additional 11,842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 4,586.1% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 700,711 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,982,000 after buying an additional 685,758 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

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.