First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.05 EPS

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The bank reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.05, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $265.95 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $160.55 million. First Merchants had a net margin of 17.77% and a return on equity of 9.17%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.94 EPS.

First Merchants Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FRME traded down $0.25 on Friday, reaching $35.75. 264,108 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 250,839. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. First Merchants has a 1-year low of $25.74 and a 1-year high of $42.44. The company has a 50-day moving average of $37.24 and a 200-day moving average of $35.49. The firm has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.37 and a beta of 1.02.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.92%. First Merchants’s payout ratio is currently 40.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FRME has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stephens lowered First Merchants from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $38.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Hovde Group assumed coverage on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Merchants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.20.

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.