Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. Invests $8.22 Million in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 246,847 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $8,218,000. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.42% of First Merchants at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of First Merchants by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 42,283 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,568,000 after buying an additional 7,737 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in First Merchants by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 978,469 shares of the bank's stock valued at $36,282,000 after acquiring an additional 89,816 shares in the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new position in First Merchants during the 4th quarter valued at $369,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in First Merchants by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 669,702 shares of the bank's stock worth $24,833,000 after purchasing an additional 30,029 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,074,407 shares of the bank's stock worth $114,001,000 after purchasing an additional 211,113 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.92% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

First Merchants Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of FRME traded down $0.44 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $37.75. The company had a trading volume of 202,735 shares, compared to its average volume of 251,287. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $2.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.85 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $36.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.69. First Merchants Co. has a 52 week low of $25.70 and a 52 week high of $42.44.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last released its 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 9.17% and a net margin of 17.77%. The company had revenue of $267.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $156.35 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.02 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that First Merchants Co. will post 3.29 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.71%. First Merchants's dividend payout ratio is currently 40.35%.

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.