Phocas Financial Corp. Decreases Stake in First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME)

Key Points

• Phocas Financial Corp. reduced its stake in First Merchants Corporation by 5.4%, selling 15,088 shares to now hold 266,538 shares valued at approximately $10.78 million.
• First Merchants recently declared an increased quarterly dividend of $0.36 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $1.44 and a yield of 3.9%.
• Analysts currently maintain a "Moderate Buy" rating for First Merchants with an average price target of $46.20, reflecting a mix of hold and buy ratings.

Phocas Financial Corp. decreased its holdings in shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 5.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 266,538 shares of the bank's stock after selling 15,088 shares during the period. First Merchants makes up about 1.7% of Phocas Financial Corp.'s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Phocas Financial Corp. owned approximately 0.46% of First Merchants worth $10,779,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 13,262 shares of the bank's stock worth $529,000 after acquiring an additional 468 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in First Merchants by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,336,937 shares of the bank's stock worth $252,780,000 after buying an additional 138,689 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 745,439 shares of the bank's stock worth $29,736,000 after purchasing an additional 49,384 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of First Merchants in the 4th quarter worth about $7,251,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 68,157 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,719,000 after purchasing an additional 3,600 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.92% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on FRME shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on First Merchants from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Piper Sandler lowered 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised First Merchants from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, First Merchants has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.20.

First Merchants Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of First Merchants stock traded up $0.19 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $37.88. The company had a trading volume of 35,198 shares, compared to its average volume of 291,952. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.81 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50 day moving average of $38.62 and a 200 day moving average of $39.37. First Merchants Corporation has a 52-week low of $33.13 and a 52-week high of $46.13.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $170.52 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.13 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 21.35%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.68 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. This is an increase from First Merchants's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. First Merchants's payout ratio is 37.31%.

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.