Inspire Investing LLC Grows Position in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,614 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $353,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its stake in First Merchants by 4,586.1% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 700,711 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,982,000 after buying an additional 685,758 shares in the last quarter. First Merchants Corp grew its position in shares of First Merchants by 457.3% in the second quarter. First Merchants Corp now owns 581,863 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $19,370,000 after purchasing an additional 477,462 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the 4th quarter valued at $14,400,000. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in First Merchants during the 2nd quarter worth about $8,218,000. Finally, rhino investment partners Inc bought a new position in First Merchants in the 4th quarter worth about $8,572,000. Institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on FRME shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of First Merchants from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Hovde Group initiated coverage on shares of First Merchants in a report on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $38.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Stephens cut shares of 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 report on Wednesday, August 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Merchants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.20.

First Merchants Stock Down 3.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FRME opened at $37.30 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $37.71 and a 200 day moving average of $34.97. First Merchants Co. has a 52-week low of $25.70 and a 52-week high of $42.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.19 billion, a PE ratio of 10.75 and a beta of 1.02.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $267.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $156.35 million. First Merchants had a net margin of 17.77% and a return on equity of 9.17%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.02 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that First Merchants Co. will post 3.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.75%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.35%.

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.