First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) issued its earnings results on Wednesday. The bank reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.06, FiscalAI reports. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.14% and a net margin of 17.56%. The company had revenue of $205.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $203.94 million.

First Merchants Stock Performance

Shares of First Merchants stock opened at $40.86 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.03 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The business has a 50-day moving average of $40.84 and a 200 day moving average of $41.32. First Merchants has a 12 month low of $34.66 and a 12 month high of $45.33.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th were issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 4th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FRME has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stephens raised shares of First Merchants to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $51.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of First Merchants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of First Merchants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.00.

About First Merchants

First Merchants Corporation is a financial services holding company headquartered in Muncie, Indiana. Through its principal subsidiary, First Merchants Bank, the company provides banking and related financial services to individuals, families, businesses and institutions.

First Merchants Bank offers deposit accounts, consumer and commercial lending, mortgage services, treasury and cash-management solutions, online and mobile banking, investment management and trust services. The company also provides wealth-management and insurance-related services through affiliated operations.

Founded in 1893, First Merchants has expanded through organic growth and acquisitions and serves customers across Indiana, Ohio and Michigan.