Brokerages Set First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) PT at $45.00

First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the four analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $45.00.

FRME has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 target price (up previously from $43.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of First Merchants from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com raised shares of First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th.

Insider Transactions at First Merchants

In other news, Director Patrick J. Fehring sold 23,936 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.51, for a total transaction of $778,159.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 122,706 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,989,172.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of First Merchants

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Waterfront Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 26,433 shares of the bank’s stock worth $880,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in First Merchants by 27.6% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,524 shares of the bank’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in First Merchants by 25.1% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,510 shares of the bank’s stock worth $130,000 after purchasing an additional 704 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in First Merchants in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its stake in First Merchants by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 16,405 shares of the bank’s stock worth $608,000 after purchasing an additional 791 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Trading Down 3.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FRME opened at $37.36 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $2.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.77 and a beta of 1.04. First Merchants has a 12 month low of $25.70 and a 12 month high of $42.44. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $267.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $156.35 million. First Merchants had a net margin of 17.77% and a return on equity of 9.20%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.02 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that First Merchants will post 3.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This is a boost from First Merchants’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.35%.

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.