First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Price Target Cut to $46.00 by Analysts at Raymond James

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) had its price target trimmed by Raymond James from $50.00 to $46.00 in a report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on FRME. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on First Merchants from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Hovde Group upgraded shares of First Merchants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.20.

First Merchants Stock Down 0.2 %

FRME stock opened at $40.11 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.35 billion, a PE ratio of 11.73 and a beta of 1.05. First Merchants has a 12 month low of $30.55 and a 12 month high of $46.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.74.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that First Merchants will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Merchants

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Phocas Financial Corp. increased its stake in shares of First Merchants by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Phocas Financial Corp. now owns 281,626 shares of the bank’s stock worth $11,234,000 after acquiring an additional 41,396 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of First Merchants by 21.2% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 21,750 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 23,771 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $948,000 after buying an additional 1,453 shares during the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Merchants in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $260,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new position in First Merchants in the fourth quarter worth approximately $669,000. 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.