Strs Ohio Makes New Investment 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) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 181,552 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $7,342,000. Strs Ohio owned about 0.31% of First Merchants as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in First Merchants in the first quarter valued at about $46,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $56,000. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 44.2% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,669 shares of the bank's stock valued at $189,000 after buying an additional 1,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $216,000. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on FRME. Piper Sandler lowered their target price 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 upgraded shares of First Merchants from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, First Merchants presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $48.25.

First Merchants Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FRME traded down $0.66 during trading 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $39.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.44 and a beta of 1.10. First Merchants Corporation has a 12 month low of $33.13 and a 12 month high of $46.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.04. First Merchants had a net margin of 21.35% and a return on equity of 9.88%. The company had revenue of $170.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $172.13 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. First Merchants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.31%.

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.