First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Short Interest Up 30.4% in February

First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) saw a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 423,100 shares, an increase of 30.4% from the February 13th total of 324,400 shares. Currently, 0.7% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 248,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on FRME shares. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $55.00 price target (up from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Hovde Group raised shares of First Merchants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Merchants presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.00.

First Merchants Stock Performance

Shares of First Merchants stock opened at $40.61 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.87 and a beta of 1.05. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $41.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.48. First Merchants has a 52 week low of $30.55 and a 52 week high of $46.13.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.10. First Merchants had a net margin of 18.76% and a return on equity of 9.23%. Sell-side analysts expect that First Merchants will post 3.79 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. First Merchants’s payout ratio is currently 40.94%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Merchants

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of First Merchants by 67.9% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 134,136 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,368,000 after purchasing an additional 54,265 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its position in First Merchants by 123.8% during the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 24,174 shares of the bank’s stock worth $899,000 after buying an additional 13,370 shares during the last quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in First Merchants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $607,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in First Merchants by 55.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 930,896 shares of the bank’s stock worth $37,133,000 after buying an additional 332,168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position in First Merchants by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,052 shares of the bank’s stock worth $122,000 after buying an additional 665 shares during the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Merchants Company Profile

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.