First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $41.60.

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

First Merchants Stock Up 15.8 %

NASDAQ:FRME traded up $5.92 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $43.41. 788,788 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 256,382. The stock has a market cap of $2.55 billion, a PE ratio of 14.33 and a beta of 1.01. First Merchants has a twelve month low of $28.08 and a twelve month high of $43.51. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $37.27 and a 200 day moving average of $35.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $265.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.55 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 16.94%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.94 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that First Merchants will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. First Merchants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.20%.

Institutional Trading of First Merchants

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its holdings in First Merchants by 84.1% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 31,082 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,024,000 after acquiring an additional 14,200 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its stake in shares of First Merchants by 21.0% during the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 154,379 shares of the bank's stock worth $5,388,000 after purchasing an additional 26,772 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 40.7% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 184,862 shares of the bank's stock worth $6,452,000 after purchasing an additional 53,463 shares during the last quarter. First Merchants Corp boosted its stake in First Merchants by 457.3% in the 2nd quarter. First Merchants Corp now owns 581,863 shares of the bank's stock valued at $19,370,000 after purchasing an additional 477,462 shares during the period. Finally, Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in First Merchants in the 2nd quarter valued at $8,218,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company's stock.

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.