First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) Receives $47.60 Consensus PT from Analysts

Shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the seven research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $47.60.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of First Merchants in a report on Monday, September 29th. Raymond James Financial cut shares of First Merchants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Monday, December 8th.

First Merchants Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ FRME opened at $38.99 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.75 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $36.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.27. First Merchants has a 1-year low of $33.13 and a 1-year high of $45.62.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.03. First Merchants had a net margin of 22.04% and a return on equity of 9.82%. The company had revenue of $172.35 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.78 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.84 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that First Merchants will post 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.00%.

Institutional Trading of First Merchants

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL lifted its stake in First Merchants by 121.1% in the third quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 98,523 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,714,000 after buying an additional 53,953 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,100 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $117,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the period. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of First Merchants in the third quarter valued at approximately $235,000. Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in First Merchants during the 3rd quarter worth about $296,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its holdings in First Merchants by 50.2% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 393,408 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,831,000 after acquiring an additional 131,504 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

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.