First Merchants (FRME) to Release Earnings on Thursday

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) is anticipated to release its earnings data before the market opens on Thursday, January 30th. Analysts expect First Merchants to post earnings of $0.90 per share and revenue of $167,840.00 billion for the quarter. Persons that are interested in participating in the company’s earnings conference call can do so using this link.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $265.95 million during 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. On average, analysts expect First Merchants to post $3 EPS for the current fiscal year and $4 EPS for the next fiscal year.

First Merchants Stock Down 1.2 %

NASDAQ FRME opened at $40.02 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.21 and a beta of 1.06. 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. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $41.68 and a 200-day moving average of $39.03.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.20%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Michael J. Stewart sold 7,248 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,052,196.72. This represents a 7.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on FRME. 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 report on Monday, October 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, First Merchants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.60.

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.