First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Receives $41.60 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a 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 $41.60.

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

First Merchants Stock Down 1.6 %

FRME opened at $42.97 on Friday. First Merchants has a fifty-two week low of $30.55 and a fifty-two week high of $46.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90. The company has a market capitalization of $2.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.18 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $39.66 and a 200-day moving average of $36.96.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.06). First Merchants had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 16.94%. The firm had revenue of $265.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.55 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.94 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that First Merchants will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.20%.

Institutional Trading of First Merchants

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 108.3% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 750 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the second quarter worth about $34,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the second quarter worth about $45,000. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 511.5% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,920 shares of the bank’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 1,606 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 78.9% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,893 shares of the bank’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 835 shares during the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

First Merchants Company Profile

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.