Brokerages Set First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) Target Price at $48.00

Shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $48.00.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on FRME. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on First Merchants from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 28th. Zacks Research upgraded First Merchants from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Raymond James Financial cut First Merchants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Wall Street Zen cut First Merchants from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Merchants

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FRME. Waterfront Wealth Inc. increased its stake in First Merchants by 1.0% in the second quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 27,412 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,050,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. EJF Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of First Merchants by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. EJF Capital LLC now owns 11,884 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $455,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its stake in shares of First Merchants by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 23,650 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $879,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of First Merchants by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 41,288 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,670,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of First Merchants by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 54,058 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,070,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Merchants Stock Up 2.3%

Shares of First Merchants stock opened at $37.27 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.32 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a 50 day moving average of $39.08 and a 200 day moving average of $38.34. First Merchants has a 52-week low of $33.13 and a 52-week high of $46.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $172.35 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $172.78 million. First Merchants had a net margin of 22.04% and a return on equity of 9.91%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.84 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that First Merchants will post 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were given a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. First Merchants’s payout ratio is 36.00%.

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.