First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the five research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $48.20.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on FRME. Raymond James decreased their target price on First Merchants from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Hovde Group upgraded First Merchants from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $55.00 target price (up from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Friday, January 31st.

Institutional Trading of First Merchants

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FRME. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position 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 valued at $859,000 after acquiring an additional 21,038 shares in the last quarter. Phocas Financial Corp. increased its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Phocas Financial Corp. now owns 281,626 shares of the bank's stock worth $11,234,000 after purchasing an additional 41,396 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of First Merchants by 21.2% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 124,573 shares of the bank's stock worth $4,969,000 after purchasing an additional 21,750 shares during the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 23,771 shares of the bank's stock valued at $948,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waverly Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the fourth quarter valued at $260,000. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

First Merchants Trading Down 5.6 %

Shares of FRME traded down $2.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $34.84. 38,370 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 259,827. The business's 50-day moving average price is $41.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.64. First Merchants has a 1 year low of $30.55 and a 1 year high of $46.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.20 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.10. First Merchants had a net margin of 18.76% and a return on equity of 9.23%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that First Merchants will post 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. First Merchants's dividend payout ratio is presently 40.94%.

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.