Empowered Funds LLC Purchases New Shares in First Merchants Corporation $FRME

Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 277,911 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $12,142,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in First Merchants during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,195,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 892.3% during the first quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 84,049 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,255,000 after buying an additional 75,579 shares during the period. OneAscent Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in First Merchants during the 2nd quarter valued at $4,273,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in First Merchants by 46.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 243,276 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,422,000 after acquiring an additional 77,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP increased its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 861,995 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,385,000 after acquiring an additional 83,667 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Trading Up 0.6%

First Merchants stock opened at $41.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market cap of $2.63 billion, a PE ratio of 13.44 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $43.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.98. First Merchants Corporation has a one year low of $34.66 and a one year high of $45.33.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by ($0.28). The business had revenue of $202.49 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $202.78 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 8.86% and a net margin of 17.05%. On average, research analysts anticipate that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on FRME. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of First Merchants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.00.

Insider Transactions at First Merchants

In other First Merchants news, Director Larry W. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.50, for a total value of $415,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 99,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,139,666.50. This trade represents a 9.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.77% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Profile

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.