First Merchants (FRME) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

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. It also provides personal and corporate trust; brokerage and private wealth management; and letters of credit, repurchase agreements, and other corporate services. The company operates banking locations in Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, and Michigan counties. It also offers its services through electronic and mobile delivery channels. First Merchants Corporation was founded in 1893 and is headquartered in Muncie, Indiana.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $42.75 to $44.00
• 50-Day Range: $35.52 to $44.54
• 52-Week Range: $30.20 to $45.08
• Volume: 240,375 shs
• Average Volume: 383,424 shs
• Market Capitalization: $2.55 billion
• P/E Ratio: 14.35
• Dividend Yield: 3.22%
• Price Target: $41.60
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy

First Merchants Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

First Merchants scored higher than 88% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 191st out of 963 stocks in the finance sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 1.3 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Moderate Buy

Consensus Rating

First Merchants has received a consensus rating of Moderate Buy. The company's average rating score is 2.60, and is based on 3 buy ratings, 2 hold ratings, and no sell ratings.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

First Merchants has only been the subject of 2 research reports in the past 90 days.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 1.9 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 4.14%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for First Merchants are expected to grow by 4.14% in the coming year, from $3.38 to $3.52 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of First Merchants is 14.35, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 110.87.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of First Merchants is 14.35, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Finance sector average P/E ratio of about 26.17.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

First Merchants has a P/B Ratio of 1.12. P/B Ratios below 3 indicates that a company is reasonably valued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 5.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Healthy

Percentage of Shares Shorted

0.80% of the outstanding shares of First Merchants have been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

First Merchants has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 1.8, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in First Merchants has recently decreased by 19.41%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving significantly.

Dividend

• Score: 4.2 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Strong

Dividend Yield

First Merchants pays a meaningful dividend of 3.22%, higher than the bottom 25% of all stocks that pay dividends.

Dividend Growth

First Merchants has been increasing its dividend for 13 years.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of First Merchants is 46.20%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on earnings estimates, First Merchants will have a dividend payout ratio of 39.77% next year. This indicates that First Merchants will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

Sustainability and ESG

• Score: 2.7 / 5
• Environmental Score: -0.61

Percentage of Shares Shorted

0.80% of the outstanding shares of First Merchants have been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

First Merchants has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 1.8, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in First Merchants has recently decreased by 19.41%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving significantly.

News and Social Media

• Score: 2.7 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.91

News Sentiment

First Merchants has a news sentiment score of 0.91. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a higher news sentiment than the 0.68 average news sentiment score of Finance companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 10 news articles for First Merchants this week, compared to 3 articles on an average week.

Company Ownership

• Score: 1.7 / 5
• Insider Trading: N/A

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, First Merchants insiders have not sold or bought any company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

Only 1.32% of the stock of First Merchants is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

73.92% of the stock of First Merchants is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

FRME Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions

How have FRME shares performed this year?

First Merchants' stock was trading at $37.08 on January 1st, 2024. Since then, FRME stock has increased by 17.3% and is now trading at $43.48.
View the best growth stocks for 2024 here.

How were First Merchants' earnings last quarter?

First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October, 24th. The bank reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.06. The bank earned $265.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.55 million. First Merchants had a trailing twelve-month return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 16.94%.

Who are First Merchants' major shareholders?

First Merchants' top institutional investors include State Street Corp (3.33%), Geode Capital Management LLC (2.39%), Victory Capital Management Inc. (1.71%) and Principal Financial Group Inc. (1.51%). Insiders that own company stock include Patrick J Fehring, Michael J Stewart, Michael C Rechin, Patrick A Sherman, Gary Lehman, Charles E Schalliol, Stephan Fluhler and Jason R Sondhi.
View institutional ownership trends.

How do I buy shares of First Merchants?

Shares of FRME stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Fidelity, and Vanguard Brokerage Services.
Compare Top Brokerages Here.

What other stocks do shareholders of First Merchants own?

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some other companies that First Merchants investors own include Tesla (TSLA), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), NVIDIA (NVDA), Meta Platforms (META), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Netflix (NFLX) and Visa (V).

Company Calendar

• Ex-Dividend for 9/20 Dividend: 9/06/2024
• Dividend Payable: 9/20/2024
• Last Earnings: 10/24/2024
• Today: 11/17/2024
• Ex-Dividend for 12/20 Dividend: 12/06/2024
• Dividend Payable: 12/20/2024
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2024
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 1/23/2025

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NASDAQ
• Sector: Finance
• Industry: National commercial banks
• Sub-Industry: Regional Banks
• Current Symbol: NASDAQ:FRME
• CUSIP: 32081710
• CIK: 712534
• Web: www.firstmerchants.com
• Phone: (765) 747-1500
• Fax: 765-282-6304
• Employees: 2,162
• Year Founded: 1982

Price Target and Rating

• Average Stock Price Target: $41.60
• High Stock Price Target: $47.00
• Low Stock Price Target: $38.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: -4.3%
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.60
• Research Coverage: 5 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Most Recent Fiscal Year): $3.03
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 14.35
• Forward P/E Ratio: 12.86
• P/E Growth: N/A
• Net Income: $223.79 million
• Net Margins: 16.94%
• Pretax Margin: 19.06%
• Return on Equity: 8.94%
• Return on Assets: 1.08%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 0.41
• Current Ratio: 0.90
• Quick Ratio: 0.89

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $999.49 million
• Price / Sales: 2.55
• Cash Flow: $4.13 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 10.54
• Book Value: $38.81 per share
• Price / Book: 1.12

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 58,670,000
• Free Float: 57,897,000
• Market Cap: $2.55 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 1.01