First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning.

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

First Merchants Stock Performance

Shares of FRME stock opened at $34.46 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.03. The company has a market cap of $2.04 billion, a PE ratio of 9.21 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. First Merchants has a 12-month low of $24.52 and a 12-month high of $38.16.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.87. First Merchants had a return on equity of 10.97% and a net margin of 22.39%. The firm had revenue of $156.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $158.50 million. Analysts expect that First Merchants will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Merchants

In other First Merchants news, insider Stephan Fluhler sold 3,193 shares of First Merchants stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.32% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Merchants

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Merchants during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp acquired a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of First Merchants by 27.6% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,524 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the 4th quarter valued at about $75,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.