Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $31.18 Million Holdings in First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 4.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 771,057 shares of the bank's stock after selling 35,581 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 1.32% of First Merchants worth $31,182,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of FRME. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new position in First Merchants during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Westend Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in First Merchants during the 1st quarter worth $46,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted 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 worth $53,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 809.9% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,838 shares of the bank's stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 1,636 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sciencast Management LP acquired a new position in First Merchants during the 4th quarter worth $203,000. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

First Merchants Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of FRME stock traded down $0.60 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $40.99. The company had a trading volume of 216,195 shares, compared to its average volume of 273,839. The company has a 50 day moving average of $38.10 and a 200 day moving average of $39.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market cap of $2.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.51 and a beta of 1.02. First Merchants Corporation has a 1-year low of $33.13 and a 1-year high of $46.13.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $160.32 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $171.23 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.28% and a net margin of 19.63%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. This is an increase from First Merchants's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. First Merchants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.