First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Receives $42.60 Average Price Target from Brokerages

First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $42.60.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on FRME shares. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of First Merchants from $43.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th.

First Merchants Price Performance

NASDAQ:FRME opened at $40.01 on Thursday. 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $41.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.21. First Merchants has a 52-week low of $30.55 and a 52-week high of $46.13. The firm has a market cap of $2.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.20 and a beta of 1.05.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $265.95 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.55 million. First Merchants had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 8.94%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.94 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that First Merchants will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Michael J. Stewart sold 7,248 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.73, for a total value of $316,955.04. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 92,664 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,052,196.72. The trade was a 7.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Merchants

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in First Merchants by 22.4% in the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 13,176 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $439,000 after buying an additional 2,414 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Merchants in the second quarter valued at about $79,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its stake in shares of First Merchants by 2.0% in the second quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 157,494 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,243,000 after purchasing an additional 3,115 shares during the period. Waterfront Wealth Inc. lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in First Merchants during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $8,218,000. 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.