Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Issues Positive Forecast for First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Stock Price

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) had its target price boosted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $43.00 to $50.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the bank’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on FRME. Stephens lowered shares of First Merchants from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $45.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Hovde Group initiated coverage on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.60.

First Merchants Stock Up 1.8 %

FRME opened at $43.73 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $39.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.43 and a beta of 1.05. 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 one year low of $30.55 and a one year high of $46.13.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that First Merchants will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.20%.

Institutional Trading of First Merchants

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in First Merchants by 108.3% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 750 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in First Merchants in the second quarter worth $34,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in First Merchants in the second quarter worth $45,000. CWM LLC lifted its stake in First Merchants by 511.5% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,920 shares of the bank’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 1,606 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of First Merchants by 78.9% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,893 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 835 shares during the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.