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

Shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the five ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $42.60.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on First Merchants from $43.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th.

First Merchants Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of FRME traded up $0.16 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $41.03. 106,013 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 257,991. 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 cap of $2.41 billion, a PE ratio of 13.54 and a beta of 1.05. The firm's 50 day moving average is $41.43 and its 200-day moving average is $37.97. First Merchants has a 52 week low of $30.55 and a 52 week high of $46.13.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $265.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.55 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.94 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that First Merchants will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. First Merchants's dividend payout ratio is 46.20%.

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction of $316,955.04. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 92,664 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,052,196.72. The trade was a 7.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Merchants

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FRME. Waterfront Wealth Inc. boosted its position in shares of First Merchants by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 26,433 shares of the bank's stock valued at $880,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of First Merchants by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 10,614 shares of the bank's stock valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,616 shares of the bank's stock worth $135,000 after buying an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 390 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 7,074 shares of the bank's stock worth $233,000 after buying an additional 519 shares during the period. 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.