First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Receives $42.60 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $42.60.

Several research firms have recently commented on FRME. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of First Merchants from $43.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price 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 Performance

Shares of FRME stock opened at $40.25 on Thursday. First Merchants has a 12-month low of $30.55 and a 12-month high of $46.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.10. The company has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a PE ratio of 13.28 and a beta of 1.05.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $265.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.55 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 16.94%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. Analysts expect that First Merchants will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.48%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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 shares were sold at an average price of $43.73, for a total transaction of $316,955.04. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 92,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,052,196.72. This represents a 7.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.32% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Merchants

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Waterfront Wealth Inc. grew its stake in First Merchants by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 26,433 shares of the bank’s stock worth $880,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 10,614 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $353,000 after buying an additional 328 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,616 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $135,000 after buying an additional 388 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position 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 buying an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in shares of First Merchants by 7.9% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 7,074 shares of the bank’s stock worth $233,000 after buying an additional 519 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

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.