First Merchants (FRME) to Release Quarterly Earnings on Thursday

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) is anticipated to issue its Q1 2025 quarterly earnings data before the market opens on Thursday, April 24th. Analysts expect First Merchants to post earnings of $0.92 per share and revenue of $171.23 million for the quarter.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.10. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.23% and a net margin of 18.76%. On average, analysts expect First Merchants to post $4 EPS for the current fiscal year and $4 EPS for the next fiscal year.

First Merchants Price Performance

Shares of FRME stock traded up $1.31 on Tuesday, reaching $36.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 270,836 shares, compared to its average volume of 261,763. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $39.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.56. First Merchants has a 1 year low of $30.55 and a 1 year high of $46.13. The company has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.59 and a beta of 0.95. 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 Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. First Merchants's dividend payout ratio is 40.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on FRME. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $55.00 price objective (up previously from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Hovde Group raised First Merchants from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on First Merchants from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James cut their price target on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $48.20.

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.