First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Short Interest Up 20.0% in November

First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 563,900 shares, an increase of 20.0% from the October 31st total of 469,900 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 269,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on FRME shares. Hovde Group initiated coverage on First Merchants in a report on Monday, August 12th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. Stephens cut shares of First Merchants from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an "outperform" rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $41.60.

Institutional Trading of First Merchants

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 886,088 shares of the bank's stock valued at $32,962,000 after buying an additional 11,521 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of First Merchants by 6.1% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 211,132 shares of the bank's stock worth $7,854,000 after purchasing an additional 12,050 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in First Merchants by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 17,072 shares of the bank's stock valued at $635,000 after purchasing an additional 1,637 shares during the last quarter. First Merchants Corp lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 457.3% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in First Merchants during the 2nd quarter worth $8,218,000. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Merchants Stock Performance

Shares of FRME traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $43.75. The stock had a trading volume of 126,679 shares, compared to its average volume of 272,891. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $39.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.84. First Merchants has a fifty-two week low of $30.55 and a fifty-two week high of $46.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.44 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.06). First Merchants had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 16.94%. The firm had revenue of $265.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.55 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.94 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that First Merchants will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. First Merchants's dividend payout ratio is currently 46.20%.

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.