Rhumbline Advisers Decreases Stock Holdings in First Merchants Corporation $FRME

Key Points

• Rhumbline Advisers has reduced its stake in First Merchants Corporation by 12.1%, now owning 89,792 shares worth approximately $3.63 million.
• First Merchants Corporation reported an EPS of $0.98 for its latest quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, despite revenues falling slightly short with $170.52 million.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.36 per share, offering an annualized yield of 3.6%.

Rhumbline Advisers decreased its position in shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 12.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 89,792 shares of the bank's stock after selling 12,339 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned about 0.15% of First Merchants worth $3,631,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 23,650 shares of the bank's stock valued at $879,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 0.9% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 41,288 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,670,000 after buying an additional 387 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc boosted its position in shares of First Merchants by 11.2% during the 1st quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 7,335 shares of the bank's stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 739 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of First Merchants by 4.3% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 24,573 shares of the bank's stock worth $994,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on FRME shares. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of First Merchants from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of First Merchants from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Merchants presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $48.25.

First Merchants Stock Performance

Shares of FRME stock traded down $0.66 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $40.30. The company had a trading volume of 1,638,170 shares, compared to its average volume of 198,532. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $39.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.69. First Merchants Corporation has a one year low of $33.13 and a one year high of $46.13. The firm has a market cap of $2.33 billion, a PE ratio of 10.44 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90.

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

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were given a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. First Merchants's dividend payout ratio is presently 37.31%.

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.