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

Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 35,761 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $1,446,000. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC owned 0.06% of First Merchants as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FRME. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in First Merchants in the 1st quarter valued at about $46,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 314.5% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 809.9% during the fourth 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 raised its holdings in First Merchants by 44.2% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,669 shares of the bank's stock worth $189,000 after purchasing an additional 1,432 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

First Merchants Trading Up 0.7%

FRME stock traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $40.90. 298,957 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 277,389. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.38 billion, a PE ratio of 11.49 and a beta of 1.02. First Merchants Corporation has a one year low of $33.13 and a one year high of $46.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $38.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.38.

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

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were given a $0.36 dividend. This is an increase from First Merchants's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.52%. First Merchants's payout ratio is presently 40.45%.

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.