Brokerages Set First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) PT at $49.00

First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $49.00.

FRME has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of First Merchants in a report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 price target (up from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Hovde Group raised First Merchants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st.

First Merchants Stock Up 0.9 %

FRME stock opened at $40.68 on Tuesday. First Merchants has a twelve month low of $30.55 and a twelve month high of $46.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a PE ratio of 11.89 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.47.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.10. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.23% and a net margin of 18.76%. On average, research analysts anticipate that First Merchants will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.94%.

Institutional Trading of First Merchants

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Phocas Financial Corp. raised its position in First Merchants by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Phocas Financial Corp. now owns 281,626 shares of the bank’s stock worth $11,234,000 after purchasing an additional 41,396 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of First Merchants by 21.2% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 124,573 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,969,000 after acquiring an additional 21,750 shares during the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 23,771 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $948,000 after acquiring an additional 1,453 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC bought a new position in First Merchants in the fourth quarter valued at about $260,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in First Merchants in the fourth quarter worth about $669,000. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.