First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) Receives $47.60 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $47.60.

FRME has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of First Merchants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on First Merchants from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on First Merchants from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Monday, September 29th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Merchants

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in First Merchants during the 1st quarter worth approximately $24,523,000. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in First Merchants by 64.4% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,346,300 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $50,756,000 after buying an additional 527,545 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in First Merchants by 842.5% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 334,593 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,531,000 after buying an additional 299,092 shares during the period. FJ Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the third quarter worth $11,111,000. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of First Merchants by 252.0% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 321,550 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,122,000 after acquiring an additional 230,192 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Price Performance

Shares of FRME opened at $38.36 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.29. First Merchants has a 1-year low of $33.13 and a 1-year high of $45.62. The company has a market cap of $2.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.59 and a beta of 0.96.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.03. The firm 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 9.82%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.84 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that First Merchants will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th were issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.00%.

About First Merchants

First Merchants Corporation, through its subsidiary First Merchants Bank, offers a comprehensive suite of banking and financial services to individuals, businesses and public sector clients. The company’s core business activities include retail and commercial banking, lending, treasury and cash management, and wealth advisory services. With a focus on relationship banking, First Merchants seeks to deliver tailored solutions for deposit accounts, loan financing and other credit products.

On the consumer side, First Merchants provides checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, personal and mortgage loans, and electronic banking conveniences.