First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the five ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $42.60.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on FRME. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of 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 upped their target price on First Merchants from $43.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

First Merchants Price Performance

First Merchants stock opened at $40.87 on Thursday. 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 one year low of $30.55 and a one year high of $46.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.49 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $41.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.95.

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

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.43%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.20%.

Insider Activity at First Merchants

In other First Merchants 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 transaction of $316,955.04. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 92,664 shares in the company, valued at $4,052,196.72. This represents a 7.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Merchants

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in First Merchants by 108.3% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 750 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in First Merchants during the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in First Merchants during the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in First Merchants by 78.9% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,893 shares of the bank’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 835 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Merchants in the second quarter valued at about $79,000. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.