First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $43.37 and last traded at $42.9520, with a volume of 19127 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $42.59.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FRME has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 17th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of First Merchants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, First Merchants has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.33.

First Merchants Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $2.72 billion, a PE ratio of 12.70 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $40.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.51.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $163.53 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $201.91 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 18.87%.During the same period last year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that First Merchants Corporation will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. This is a positive change from First Merchants’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Merchants

In other news, Director Larry W. Myers sold 10,000 shares of First Merchants stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.50, for a total transaction of $415,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 99,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,139,666.50. The trade was a 9.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.77% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Merchants

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL lifted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 121.1% in the third quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 98,523 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,714,000 after purchasing an additional 53,953 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of First Merchants by 8.4% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 947,498 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $35,721,000 after purchasing an additional 73,725 shares during the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its stake in shares of First Merchants by 137.4% during the 3rd quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 37,124 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,400,000 after purchasing an additional 21,486 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of First Merchants by 64.4% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,346,300 shares of the bank’s stock worth $50,756,000 after purchasing an additional 527,545 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of First Merchants by 16.4% during the 3rd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 843,174 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,788,000 after purchasing an additional 118,495 shares during the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Merchants Company Profile

First Merchants Corporation, through its subsidiary First Merchants Bank, offers a comprehensive suite of banking and financial services to individuals, businesses and public sector clients. The company’s core business activities include retail and commercial banking, lending, treasury and cash management, and wealth advisory services. With a focus on relationship banking, First Merchants seeks to deliver tailored solutions for deposit accounts, loan financing and other credit products.

On the consumer side, First Merchants provides checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, personal and mortgage loans, and electronic banking conveniences.