Earnest Partners LLC Trims Stock Position 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 holdings in shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,562,184 shares of the bank's stock after selling 46,462 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC owned approximately 4.39% of First Merchants worth $103,615,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FRME. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Merchants in the first quarter valued at about $658,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised 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 during the last quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC raised 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 during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of First Merchants from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Piper Sandler lowered 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $48.25.

First Merchants Stock Performance

FRME traded down $0.10 during trading on Monday, hitting $41.52. 183,780 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 220,399. First Merchants Corporation has a one year low of $33.13 and a one year high of $46.13. The stock's fifty day moving average is $39.63 and its 200 day moving average is $38.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a market cap of $2.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.76 and a beta of 1.10.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.04. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 21.35%.The business 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 firm earned $0.68 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 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.