StockNews.com Lowers First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) to Sell

StockNews.com lowered shares of First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday.

Separately, Raymond James upped their price objective on First Merchants from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th.

First Merchants Trading Down 0.7 %

First Merchants stock opened at $32.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. First Merchants has a 1 year low of $24.52 and a 1 year high of $38.16. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $33.78 and its 200-day moving average is $32.76. The company has a market cap of $1.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.79 and a beta of 1.08.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87. The firm had revenue of $156.51 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $158.50 million. First Merchants had a net margin of 22.39% and a return on equity of 10.97%. On average, equities analysts expect that First Merchants will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.14%. First Merchants’s payout ratio is currently 36.36%.

Insider Activity

In other First Merchants news, insider Stephan Fluhler sold 3,193 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.17, for a total transaction of $105,911.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 24,070 shares in the company, valued at approximately $798,401.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Merchants

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FRME. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of First Merchants by 27.6% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,524 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,337 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 7,112 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming boosted its holdings in First Merchants by 35.0% in the second quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,454 shares of the bank’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its position in First Merchants by 16.0% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,806 shares of the bank’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

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.