Peregrine Capital Management LLC Decreases Stake in First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME)

Peregrine Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 5.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 144,564 shares of the bank's stock after selling 7,885 shares during the period. Peregrine Capital Management LLC owned 0.25% of First Merchants worth $5,846,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of FRME. Capital International Investors purchased a new position in First Merchants during the fourth quarter worth $23,739,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the fourth quarter valued at $19,014,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 55.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 930,896 shares of the bank's stock valued at $37,133,000 after acquiring an additional 332,168 shares during the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in First Merchants during the 4th quarter worth about $9,107,000. Finally, Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in First Merchants by 70.8% in the 4th quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. now owns 477,013 shares of the bank's stock valued at $19,028,000 after purchasing an additional 197,780 shares during the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Merchants Trading Up 3.8%

Shares of FRME traded up $1.46 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $39.76. The company had a trading volume of 220,267 shares, compared to its average volume of 271,412. First Merchants Corporation has a 1-year low of $32.28 and a 1-year high of $46.13. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $37.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.37. The stock has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a PE ratio of 11.17 and a beta of 1.03. 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 (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. First Merchants had a net margin of 19.63% and a return on equity of 9.28%. The company had revenue of $160.32 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $171.23 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were given a $0.36 dividend. This is a positive change from First Merchants's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. First Merchants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.