MetLife Investment Management LLC Boosts Holdings in First Merchants Corporation $FRME

Key Points

• MetLife Investment Management LLC significantly increased its stake in First Merchants Corporation by 842.5% during the first quarter, now holding over 334,000 shares valued at approximately $13.5 million.
• First Merchants recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.36 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 3.5% for stockholders.
• Wall Street analysts have an average rating of "Buy" for First Merchants, with a current average target price of $48.25.

MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its position in First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 842.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 334,593 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 299,092 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.57% of First Merchants worth $13,531,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FRME. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in First Merchants during the first quarter valued at approximately $658,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in First Merchants by 0.9% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 41,288 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,670,000 after buying an additional 387 shares during the period. Citadel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in First Merchants by 43.2% during the fourth quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 41,781 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,667,000 after buying an additional 12,600 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in First Merchants by 10,900.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 21,231 shares of the bank's stock valued at $859,000 after buying an additional 21,038 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in First Merchants by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 120,622 shares of the bank's stock valued at $4,812,000 after buying an additional 19,063 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.92% of the company's stock.

First Merchants Price Performance

Shares of First Merchants stock traded down $0.17 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $41.62. The stock had a trading volume of 194,682 shares, compared to its average volume of 227,146. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.40 billion, a PE ratio of 10.78 and a beta of 1.08. The stock's 50 day moving average is $39.52 and its 200 day moving average is $39.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. First Merchants Corporation has a twelve month low of $33.13 and a twelve month high of $46.13.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last released its 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 business had revenue of $170.52 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $172.13 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.68 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. First Merchants's dividend payout ratio is 37.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on FRME. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of First Merchants from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, First Merchants currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $48.25.

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.