First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Receives $41.60 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $41.60.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on FRME. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of First Merchants in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Hovde Group assumed coverage on First Merchants in a research note on Monday, August 12th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $38.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective 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, Stephens downgraded First Merchants from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $38.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th.

First Merchants Price Performance

Shares of First Merchants stock traded down $0.21 on Friday, hitting $43.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 126,679 shares, compared to its average volume of 272,891. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90. The company has a market capitalization of $2.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.44 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $39.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.85. First Merchants has a 1 year low of $30.55 and a 1 year high of $46.13.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.06). First Merchants had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 16.94%. The firm had revenue of $265.95 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $160.55 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that First Merchants will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Trading of First Merchants

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FRME. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in First Merchants by 108.3% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 750 shares of the bank's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the second quarter worth about $34,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the second quarter worth about $45,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 78.9% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,893 shares of the bank's stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 835 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its position in First Merchants by 511.5% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,920 shares of the bank's stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 1,606 shares during the period. 73.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Merchants Company Profile

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.