First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) posted its earnings results on Thursday. The bank reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.10, Zacks reports. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.23% and a net margin of 18.76%.

First Merchants Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of FRME stock traded down $0.34 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $44.10. 488,257 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 236,365. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $41.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.36. First Merchants has a 12-month low of $30.55 and a 12-month high of $46.13. The stock has a market cap of $2.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.89 and a beta of 1.07.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. First Merchants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.94%.

Insider Activity at First Merchants

In other news, President Michael J. Stewart sold 7,248 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the president now directly owns 92,664 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,052,196.72. This represents a 7.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on FRME. 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. Hovde Group raised shares of First Merchants from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Raymond James reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $50.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $49.00.

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.