First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $41.60.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on FRME shares. Stephens lowered First Merchants from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Hovde Group started coverage on First Merchants in a research report on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on First Merchants from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 28th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Merchants

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in First Merchants by 93.3% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 424,130 shares of the bank’s stock worth $15,778,000 after acquiring an additional 204,736 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in First Merchants by 0.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 722,148 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,864,000 after acquiring an additional 5,367 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in First Merchants in the third quarter worth $396,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in First Merchants by 4.2% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 24,867 shares of the bank’s stock worth $925,000 after acquiring an additional 1,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OneAscent Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in First Merchants in the third quarter worth $4,577,000. 73.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Merchants Price Performance

FRME opened at $44.54 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89. First Merchants has a 1 year low of $28.20 and a 1 year high of $44.98. The firm has a market cap of $2.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.75 and a beta of 1.01.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.06). First Merchants had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 16.94%. The company had revenue of $265.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.55 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that First Merchants will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. First Merchants’s payout ratio is 46.20%.

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.