Citadel Advisors LLC Acquires 12,600 Shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Citadel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 43.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 41,781 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 12,600 shares during the period. Citadel Advisors LLC owned 0.07% of First Merchants worth $1,667,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in First Merchants by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,388 shares of the bank's stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. boosted its stake in First Merchants by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 26,908 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,073,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in First Merchants by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 17,308 shares of the bank's stock worth $690,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in First Merchants by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 7,141 shares of the bank's stock valued at $285,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in First Merchants by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 6,101 shares of the bank's stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.92% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FRME has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of First Merchants from $55.00 to $49.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Raymond James decreased their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Hovde Group raised First Merchants from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded First Merchants from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on First Merchants from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, First Merchants currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.40.

First Merchants Stock Performance

Shares of FRME stock traded up $0.96 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $38.30. The company had a trading volume of 168,918 shares, compared to its average volume of 265,124. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $37.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.51. First Merchants Co. has a one year low of $30.55 and a one year high of $46.13. The firm has a market cap of $2.23 billion, a PE ratio of 11.20 and a beta of 1.02.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $160.32 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $171.23 million. First Merchants had a net margin of 18.76% and a return on equity of 9.23%. Sell-side analysts predict that First Merchants Co. will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.76%. This is a positive change from First Merchants's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. First Merchants's payout ratio is presently 40.45%.

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.