KBC Group NV Takes $89,000 Position in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

KBC Group NV purchased a new stake in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 2,387 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $89,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its stake in shares of First Merchants by 84.1% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 31,082 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,024,000 after buying an additional 14,200 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in First Merchants by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 886,088 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,962,000 after acquiring an additional 11,521 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in First Merchants by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 17,072 shares of the bank’s stock worth $635,000 after purchasing an additional 1,637 shares in the last quarter. First Merchants Corp raised its position in First Merchants by 457.3% in the second quarter. First Merchants Corp now owns 581,863 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $19,370,000 after purchasing an additional 477,462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the second quarter valued at about $8,218,000. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Merchants Trading Up 1.5 %

FRME opened at $44.05 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.58 billion, a PE ratio of 14.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. First Merchants Co. has a twelve month low of $30.20 and a twelve month high of $45.08. The company has a fifty day moving average of $38.60 and a 200-day moving average of $36.47.

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). First Merchants had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 16.94%. The business had revenue of $265.95 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.55 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that First Merchants Co. will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th. Stephens downgraded shares of First Merchants from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $45.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Hovde Group assumed coverage on First Merchants in a research report on Monday, August 12th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Merchants currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.60.

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.