City Center Advisors LLC Invests $219,000 in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

City Center Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 5,486 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of First Merchants by 93.3% during the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 424,130 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $15,778,000 after buying an additional 204,736 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in First Merchants by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,475,053 shares of the bank’s stock worth $115,682,000 after acquiring an additional 180,323 shares during the period. OneAscent Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in First Merchants in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,577,000. Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its holdings in First Merchants by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 682,675 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,396,000 after purchasing an additional 93,319 shares during the period. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in First Merchants by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,694,006 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $89,683,000 after purchasing an additional 75,677 shares during the period. 73.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

First Merchants Stock Up 1.6 %

FRME opened at $38.59 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.72. First Merchants Co. has a 52 week low of $30.55 and a 52 week high of $46.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market cap of $2.26 billion, a PE ratio of 12.74 and a beta of 1.06.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.06). The firm 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that First Merchants Co. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. First Merchants’s payout ratio is presently 46.20%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Michael J. Stewart sold 7,248 shares of First Merchants stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.73, for a total value of $316,955.04. Following the transaction, the president now owns 92,664 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,052,196.72. The trade was a 7.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on FRME shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on First Merchants from $43.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on First Merchants from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.60.

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.