Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC Purchases New Stake in First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME)

Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 35,761 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $1,446,000. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC owned about 0.06% of First Merchants as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new stake in First Merchants during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in First Merchants during the 1st quarter valued at $46,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its holdings in First Merchants by 314.5% during the 1st quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 1,318 shares of the bank's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in First Merchants by 809.9% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,838 shares of the bank's stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 1,636 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 1,432 shares during the period. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on FRME shares. Raymond James Financial reduced their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of First Merchants from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $55.00 to $49.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.40.

First Merchants Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:FRME traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $40.60. The company's stock had a trading volume of 23,050 shares, compared to its average volume of 273,859. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $38.38 and a 200-day moving average of $39.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.45 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. First Merchants Corporation has a 12-month low of $33.13 and a 12-month high of $46.13.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $160.32 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $171.23 million. First Merchants had a net margin of 19.63% and a return on equity of 9.28%. On average, research analysts anticipate that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a $0.36 dividend. This is a boost from First Merchants's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.55%. First Merchants's payout ratio is presently 40.45%.

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.

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