Short Interest in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Expands By 23.7%

First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 523,500 shares, a growth of 23.7% from the February 28th total of 423,100 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 269,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days. Currently, 0.9% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on FRME. Hovde Group raised shares of First Merchants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $55.00 price objective (up from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on First Merchants from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James decreased their price target on First Merchants from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.20.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Merchants

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FRME. PL Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of First Merchants by 3,889.0% in the fourth quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,377,823 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,092,101,000 after buying an additional 26,691,490 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors acquired a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the fourth quarter valued at $23,739,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in First Merchants during the 4th quarter worth about $19,014,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in First Merchants by 55.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 930,896 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $37,133,000 after purchasing an additional 332,168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC purchased a new position in First Merchants in the 4th quarter valued at about $9,107,000. 73.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Merchants Price Performance

FRME stock traded down $0.08 on Wednesday, reaching $40.11. 254,818 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 255,573. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $42.22 and a 200-day moving average of $40.74. The firm has a market cap of $2.35 billion, a PE ratio of 11.73 and a beta of 1.05.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.10. First Merchants had a net margin of 18.76% and a return on equity of 9.23%. As a group, equities analysts predict that First Merchants will post 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.94%.

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.