Trexquant Investment LP Acquires 65,976 Shares of First Merchants Corporation $FRME

Key Points

• Trexquant Investment LP significantly increased its stake in First Merchants Corporation by 158.5%, acquiring an additional 65,976 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total holdings to 107,590 shares valued at approximately $4.35 million.
• First Merchants Corporation has announced a $0.36 quarterly dividend to be paid on September 19th, representing an annualized yield of 3.5%.
• The company reported earnings per share of $0.98 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, with a net margin of 21.35% and an annual revenue of $170.52 million.

Trexquant Investment LP raised its stake in First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 158.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 107,590 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 65,976 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP owned 0.18% of First Merchants worth $4,351,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the 1st quarter worth about $658,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in First Merchants by 0.9% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 41,288 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,670,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 43.2% during the fourth quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 41,781 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,667,000 after acquiring an additional 12,600 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 10,900.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 21,231 shares of the bank's stock worth $859,000 after acquiring an additional 21,038 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of First Merchants by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 120,622 shares of the bank's stock valued at $4,812,000 after purchasing an additional 19,063 shares during the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FRME has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on First Merchants from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded First Merchants from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, First Merchants presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $48.25.

First Merchants Price Performance

Shares of FRME traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $41.18. 160,485 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 209,348. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. First Merchants Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $33.13 and a fifty-two week high of $46.13. The company has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.67 and a beta of 1.10. The firm's fifty day moving average is $39.88 and its 200 day moving average is $38.96.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $170.52 million during 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. First Merchants's dividend 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.