Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $29.11 Million Stock Position in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 3.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 874,567 shares of the bank's stock after selling 35,925 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 1.49% of First Merchants worth $29,114,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in First Merchants during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $79,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 22.4% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 13,176 shares of the bank's stock valued at $439,000 after purchasing an additional 2,414 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp boosted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 457.3% in the second quarter. First Merchants Corp now owns 581,863 shares of the bank's stock valued at $19,370,000 after purchasing an additional 477,462 shares during the period. Security Financial Services INC. acquired a new stake in First Merchants during the 2nd quarter valued at $230,000. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in First Merchants by 60.6% during the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,552 shares of the bank's stock worth $351,000 after buying an additional 3,981 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.92% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FRME has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an "outperform" rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on First Merchants from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Hovde Group initiated coverage on First Merchants in a report on Monday, August 12th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Stephens cut First Merchants from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $45.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, First Merchants has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $42.20.

First Merchants Stock Performance

FRME traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $39.00. 224,200 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 251,272. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.86. First Merchants Co. has a 12 month low of $25.70 and a 12 month high of $42.44. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.66. The stock has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.24 and a beta of 1.04.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last posted 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). The business had revenue of $267.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.35 million. First Merchants had a net margin of 17.77% and a return on equity of 9.17%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.02 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that First Merchants Co. will post 3.29 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. First Merchants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.35%.

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.