Stifel Financial Corp Purchases 5,016 Shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,275 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,016 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp owned approximately 0.07% of First Merchants worth $1,610,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,475,053 shares of the bank’s stock worth $115,682,000 after buying an additional 180,323 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its position in First Merchants by 2.9% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,694,006 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $89,683,000 after purchasing an additional 75,677 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in First Merchants by 1.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 886,088 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,962,000 after purchasing an additional 11,521 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of First Merchants by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 722,148 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,864,000 after purchasing an additional 5,367 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP raised its stake in shares of First Merchants by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 682,675 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,396,000 after purchasing an additional 93,319 shares in the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Merchants Stock Performance

NASDAQ FRME opened at $40.89 on Friday. First Merchants Co. has a fifty-two week low of $30.55 and a fifty-two week high of $46.13. The stock has a market cap of $2.40 billion, a PE ratio of 13.50 and a beta of 1.05. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $41.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.74.

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). The business had revenue of $265.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.55 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 16.94%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that First Merchants Co. will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is 46.20%.

Insider Activity at First Merchants

In related news, President Michael J. Stewart sold 7,248 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.73, for a total transaction of $316,955.04. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 92,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,052,196.72. This represents a 7.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $43.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler lowered 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.60.

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.