Rafferty Asset Management LLC Has $1.44 Million Stock Position in First Merchants Corporation $FRME

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in First Merchants Corporation by 25.6%, selling 12,219 shares in the first quarter, and now owns 35,588 shares valued at $1,439,000.
• First Merchants recently reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.98, exceeding consensus estimates by $0.04, and had a quarterly revenue of $170.52 million, slightly below estimates.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.36 per share, with a dividend yield of 3.5%, reflecting a payout ratio of 37.31%.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 25.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 35,588 shares of the bank's stock after selling 12,219 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC owned about 0.06% of First Merchants worth $1,439,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Westend Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants in the first quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its stake in First Merchants by 314.5% in the 1st quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 1,318 shares of the bank's stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants during the first quarter worth about $56,000. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of First Merchants by 44.2% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,669 shares of the bank's stock worth $189,000 after buying an additional 1,432 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants during the first quarter worth about $216,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FRME has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on First Merchants from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of First Merchants from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, First Merchants has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $48.25.

First Merchants Stock Performance

Shares of FRME traded up $0.70 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $41.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 154,024 shares, compared to its average volume of 283,467. First Merchants Corporation has a 1-year low of $33.13 and a 1-year high of $46.13. The stock has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.85 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.96. 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 (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 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 the consensus estimate of $172.13 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. First Merchants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.31%.

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.