First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the five research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $41.60.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Hovde Group initiated coverage on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Monday, August 12th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. Stephens cut First Merchants from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $45.00 to $38.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on First Merchants from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in First Merchants by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,400,821 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $52,120,000 after purchasing an additional 11,430 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in First Merchants by 89.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 112,290 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,176,000 after purchasing an additional 53,033 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of First Merchants by 108.3% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 750 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 123.8% in the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 24,174 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $899,000 after buying an additional 13,370 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 83,696 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,113,000 after buying an additional 566 shares during the period. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Merchants Stock Performance

NASDAQ FRME opened at $43.75 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. First Merchants has a twelve month low of $30.55 and a twelve month high of $46.13. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $39.42 and a 200 day moving average of $36.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.44 and a beta of 1.01.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $265.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 business posted $0.94 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that First Merchants will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.20%.

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.