Denali Advisors LLC Raises Stake in First Merchants Corporation $FRME

Key Points

• Denali Advisors LLC increased its stake in First Merchants Corporation to 174,384 shares, a rise of 8.7%, valued at approximately $6.68 million.
• Analysts have mixed views on First Merchants, with one firm lowering its target price from $49.00 to $48.00 while others issued ratings ranging from "Strong Buy" to "Sell."
• First Merchants reported a quarterly EPS of $0.98, surpassing estimates, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.36, indicating a yield of 3.9%.

Denali Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 8.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 174,384 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 14,005 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC owned 0.30% of First Merchants worth $6,679,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of FRME. Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in First Merchants during the 1st quarter valued at about $46,000. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC purchased a new position in First Merchants during the 1st quarter valued at about $56,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in First Merchants by 98.4% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,784 shares of the bank's stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 885 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its position in First Merchants by 44.2% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,669 shares of the bank's stock valued at $189,000 after acquiring an additional 1,432 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System purchased a new position in First Merchants during the 1st quarter valued at about $216,000. 73.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FRME has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of First Merchants from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of First Merchants from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of First Merchants from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of First Merchants in a report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of First Merchants from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $48.00.

First Merchants Stock Performance

Shares of FRME stock opened at $36.92 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $39.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.31. First Merchants Corporation has a 52 week low of $33.13 and a 52 week high of $46.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.13 billion, a PE ratio of 9.56 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.04. First Merchants had a net margin of 21.35% and a return on equity of 9.88%. The firm had revenue of $170.52 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $172.13 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. First Merchants's payout ratio is currently 37.31%.

First Merchants 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.

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