First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Rating Reiterated by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating reissued by investment analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $45.00 price target on the bank's stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' price objective suggests a potential upside of 15.41% from the company's current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on FRME. Hovde Group assumed coverage on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Monday, August 12th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $38.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of First Merchants from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Stephens downgraded shares of First Merchants from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of First Merchants from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Merchants has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $42.20.

First Merchants Price Performance

Shares of FRME stock traded up $0.52 on Wednesday, reaching $38.99. 140,718 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 251,908. The company has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.24 and a beta of 1.04. First Merchants has a 1 year low of $25.70 and a 1 year high of $42.44. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $36.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.10). First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 17.77%. The firm had revenue of $267.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $156.35 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.02 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that First Merchants will post 3.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at First Merchants

In related news, Director Patrick J. Fehring sold 23,936 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.51, for a total value of $778,159.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 122,706 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,989,172.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of First Merchants

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FRME. rhino investment partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,572,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its position in First Merchants by 84.1% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 31,082 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,024,000 after purchasing an additional 14,200 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 28.6% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 97,357 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,610,000 after buying an additional 21,632 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its holdings in First Merchants by 21.0% during the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 154,379 shares of the bank's stock worth $5,388,000 after acquiring an additional 26,772 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 40.7% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 184,862 shares of the bank's stock valued at $6,452,000 after acquiring an additional 53,463 shares during the period. 73.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.