Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Grows Stake in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 731,413 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,265 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 1.25% of First Merchants worth $29,176,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted 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 valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 390 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of First Merchants by 139.1% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,289 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 750 shares during the period. KBC Group NV purchased a new position in shares of First Merchants during the third quarter valued at approximately $89,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of First Merchants by 270.1% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,728 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 1,991 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted 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 valued at $135,000 after buying an additional 388 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on FRME. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $55.00 target price (up previously from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating 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 target for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, First Merchants currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.00.

First Merchants Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FRME opened at $40.68 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.89 and a beta of 1.05. First Merchants Co. has a 52 week low of $30.55 and a 52 week high of $46.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $41.94 and a 200 day moving average of $40.47.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.10. First Merchants had a net margin of 18.76% and a return on equity of 9.23%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that First Merchants Co. 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. First Merchants’s payout ratio is presently 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.