Brokerages Set First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Price Target at $41.60

First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the five research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $41.60.

FRME has been the topic of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on First Merchants from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of First Merchants in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Stephens lowered shares of First Merchants from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Hovde Group began coverage on First Merchants in a research note on Monday, August 12th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company.

First Merchants Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of FRME opened at $42.94 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.17 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89. First Merchants has a 1-year low of $28.16 and a 1-year high of $43.51. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.90.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.06). First Merchants had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 16.94%. The business had revenue of $265.95 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.55 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that First Merchants will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.20%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Merchants

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FRME. Waterfront Wealth Inc. grew its position in shares of First Merchants by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 26,433 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $880,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 3.2% during the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 10,614 shares of the bank’s stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of First Merchants by 12.0% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,616 shares of the bank’s stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 7,074 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $233,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of First Merchants by 78.9% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,893 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 835 shares during the period. 73.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.