Venture Visionary Partners LLC Lowers Stake in First Merchants Corporation $FRME

Key Points

• Venture Visionary Partners LLC reduced its stake in First Merchants Corporation by 50.1%, now holding 13,529 shares valued at approximately $547,000.
• First Merchants recently reported earnings of $0.98 per share, exceeding analyst expectations of $0.94, with a revenue of $170.52 million for the quarter.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.36 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 3.6%, with a payout ratio of 37.31%.

Venture Visionary Partners LLC trimmed its stake in First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME - Free Report) by 50.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 13,529 shares of the bank's stock after selling 13,571 shares during the quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC's holdings in First Merchants were worth $547,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FRME. Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in First Merchants in the first quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its holdings in First Merchants by 314.5% in the first quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 1,318 shares of the bank's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC purchased a new stake in First Merchants in the first quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in First Merchants by 809.9% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,838 shares of the bank's stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 1,636 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC grew its holdings in First Merchants by 44.2% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,669 shares of the bank's stock valued at $189,000 after purchasing an additional 1,432 shares during the period. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Merchants Price Performance

FRME opened at $39.50 on Thursday. 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 52-week low of $33.13 and a 52-week high of $46.13. The company has a 50 day moving average of $38.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.18. The company has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.23 and a beta of 1.08.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.13 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. First Merchants's payout ratio is presently 37.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of First Merchants from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $48.25.

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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