First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.10 EPS

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The bank reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.10, Zacks reports. First Merchants had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 16.94%.

First Merchants Stock Performance

FRME stock opened at $42.71 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a PE ratio of 14.10 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $41.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.28. First Merchants has a 1-year low of $30.55 and a 1-year high of $46.13.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given 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 yield of 3.28%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.20%.

Insider Activity at First Merchants

In other First Merchants 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 transaction, the president now directly owns 92,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,052,196.72. The trade was a 7.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on FRME shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of First Merchants from $43.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on First Merchants from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.25.

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.