Earnest Partners LLC Has $103.62 Million Stake in First Merchants Corporation $FRME

Key Points

• Earnest Partners LLC holds a $103.62 million stake in First Merchants Corporation, with a recent decrease in ownership to 2,562,184 shares after selling 46,462 shares.
• The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the last quarter, surpassing analyst expectations, with a net margin of 21.35% and a revenue of $170.52 million.
• First Merchants has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.36 per share, representing an annualized yield of 3.5%, to be paid on September 19th.

Earnest Partners LLC decreased its position in shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 1.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,562,184 shares of the bank's stock after selling 46,462 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC owned about 4.39% of First Merchants worth $103,615,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the first quarter worth approximately $658,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 0.9% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 41,288 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,670,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 43.2% in the fourth quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 41,781 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,667,000 after purchasing an additional 12,600 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 10,900.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 21,231 shares of the bank's stock valued at $859,000 after purchasing an additional 21,038 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 120,622 shares of the bank's stock valued at $4,812,000 after purchasing an additional 19,063 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on FRME shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of First Merchants from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $48.25.

First Merchants Price Performance

FRME opened at $41.42 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $39.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. 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 $2.39 billion, a PE ratio of 10.73 and a beta of 1.08.

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

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. First Merchants's payout ratio is 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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