Strs Ohio Takes $7.34 Million Position in First Merchants Corporation $FRME

Key Points

• Strs Ohio has acquired a new stake in First Merchants Corporation, purchasing 181,552 shares valued at approximately $7.34 million, thus holding about 0.31% of the company.
• First Merchants reported earnings of $0.98 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $0.94, with a revenue of $170.52 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.36 per share, yielding 3.6%, with an ex-dividend date of September 5th.

Strs Ohio bought a new stake in First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 181,552 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $7,342,000. Strs Ohio owned approximately 0.31% of First Merchants as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew 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. grew its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 41,288 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,670,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc grew its holdings 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 valued at $297,000 after acquiring an additional 739 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 24,573 shares of the bank's stock valued at $994,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008 shares in the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FRME has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of First Merchants from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of First Merchants from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, First Merchants currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $48.25.

First Merchants Stock Down 0.9%

First Merchants stock opened at $40.03 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $2.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.37 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. First Merchants Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $33.13 and a fifty-two week high of $46.13. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $40.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.75.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. First Merchants's payout ratio is currently 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.

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