Brokerages Set First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Price Target at $49.00

First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the five ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $49.00.

FRME has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on First Merchants from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 price target (up from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Hovde Group raised shares of First Merchants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 target price (up previously from $42.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Friday, January 31st.

Insider Activity

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 value of $316,955.04. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 92,664 shares in the company, valued at $4,052,196.72. This represents a 7.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased 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 during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new stake in First Merchants during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of First Merchants by 139.1% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,289 shares of the bank’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 809.9% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,838 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 1,636 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV bought a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the 3rd quarter valued at about $89,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ FRME opened at $39.07 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.42 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $41.90 and its 200 day moving average is $40.42. First Merchants has a 52 week low of $30.55 and a 52 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.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.10. First Merchants had a net margin of 18.76% and a return on equity of 9.23%. Sell-side analysts forecast that First Merchants will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.94%.

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.