First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) Receives $47.00 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the six analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $47.00.

FRME has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen raised First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of First Merchants in a report on Monday, December 29th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of First Merchants from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of First Merchants from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st.

First Merchants Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FRME opened at $40.81 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.91. First Merchants has a one year low of $33.13 and a one year high of $45.62. The firm has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a PE ratio of 10.49 and a beta of 0.94.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $178.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $172.89 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.68% and a net margin of 21.49%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that First Merchants will post 3.79 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.02%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FRME. Waterfront Wealth Inc. boosted its position in First Merchants by 1.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in First Merchants by 9.9% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,100 shares of the bank’s stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. EJF Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 2.6% during the second quarter. EJF Capital LLC now owns 11,884 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $455,000 after buying an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 25,264 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $962,000 after buying an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of First Merchants by 62.1% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 987 shares of the bank’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 378 shares during the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.