First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Sees Large Volume Increase - Time to Buy?

First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) saw strong trading volume on Monday . 143,558 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 43% from the previous session's volume of 250,271 shares.The stock last traded at $36.40 and had previously closed at $35.75.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Hovde Group assumed coverage on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Monday, August 12th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Stephens cut shares of First Merchants from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, First Merchants presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $41.60.

First Merchants Stock Performance

The company's 50-day moving average price is $37.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.53. 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 stock has a market cap of $2.18 billion, a PE ratio of 10.71 and a beta of 1.02.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $265.95 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $160.55 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.17% and a net margin of 17.77%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that First Merchants Co. will post 3.29 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. First Merchants's payout ratio is presently 40.35%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Merchants

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of First Merchants by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,571,539 shares of the bank's stock valued at $243,673,000 after acquiring an additional 32,126 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of First Merchants by 5.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,475,053 shares of the bank's stock valued at $115,682,000 after acquiring an additional 180,323 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC increased its position in shares of First Merchants by 2.9% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,694,006 shares of the bank's stock valued at $89,683,000 after acquiring an additional 75,677 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 477,462 shares during the period. Finally, Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of First Merchants in the second quarter valued at about $8,218,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.92% of the company's stock.

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.