Short Interest in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Declines By 32.6%

First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) was the target of a large drop in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 405,800 shares, a drop of 32.6% from the January 15th total of 601,700 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 259,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days.

Insider Transactions at First Merchants

In related 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 value of $316,955.04. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 92,664 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,052,196.72. This trade represents a 7.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.32% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. PL Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of First Merchants by 3,889.0% in the fourth quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,377,823 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,092,101,000 after purchasing an additional 26,691,490 shares during the period. Capital International Investors acquired a new stake in First Merchants in the 4th quarter worth about $23,739,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in First Merchants in the 4th quarter valued at about $19,014,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of First Merchants by 55.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 930,896 shares of the bank's stock valued at $37,133,000 after acquiring an additional 332,168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Merchants during the 4th quarter worth about $9,107,000. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Hovde Group upgraded First Merchants from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $50.00 target price (up previously from $42.00) on shares of First Merchants in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective (up from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $49.00.

First Merchants Price Performance

First Merchants stock traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $44.55. 134,656 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 233,011. 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 has a 12-month low of $30.55 and a 12-month high of $46.13. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $41.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.73. The company has a market capitalization of $2.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.03 and a beta of 1.07.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.10. First Merchants had a net margin of 18.76% and a return on equity of 9.23%. Analysts forecast that First Merchants will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. First Merchants's payout ratio is currently 40.94%.

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.