First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $42.60.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, President Michael J. Stewart sold 7,248 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.73, for a total transaction of $316,955.04. Following the transaction, the president now owns 92,664 shares in the company, valued at $4,052,196.72. This represents a 7.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Merchants

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FRME. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 108.3% in the third 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 last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of First Merchants in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 139.1% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,289 shares of the bank's stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 835 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV acquired a new position in First Merchants during the third quarter valued at approximately $89,000. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

First Merchants Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of FRME traded up $0.32 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $40.27. The stock had a trading volume of 530,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 215,388. First Merchants has a fifty-two week low of $30.55 and a fifty-two week high of $46.13. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.97. The firm has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.29 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $265.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.55 million. First Merchants had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 8.94%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that First Merchants will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. First Merchants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.20%.

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.