First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the six research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $49.00.

FRME has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered First Merchants from a "buy (b)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on First Merchants from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded First Merchants from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, May 17th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Merchants news, Director Larry W. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.50, for a total transaction of $415,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 99,751 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,139,666.50. The trade was a 9.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.77% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of First Merchants

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Waterfront Wealth Inc. grew its stake in First Merchants by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 28,184 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,092,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of First Merchants by 9.9% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,100 shares of the bank's stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of First Merchants by 24.9% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,403 shares of the bank's stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 25,264 shares of the bank's stock worth $962,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the period. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in First Merchants by 0.8% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 54,058 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,070,000 after buying an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company's stock.

First Merchants Trading Up 3.1%

NASDAQ FRME opened at $43.18 on Friday. First Merchants has a 52 week low of $34.66 and a 52 week high of $45.33. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $41.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market cap of $2.72 billion, a PE ratio of 13.84 and a beta of 0.84.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.02 by ($0.28). First Merchants had a net margin of 17.05% and a return on equity of 9.02%. The firm had revenue of $202.49 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $202.78 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that First Merchants will post 4.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $0.37 dividend. This is a boost from First Merchants's previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. First Merchants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.44%.

First Merchants Company Profile

First Merchants Corporation, through its subsidiary First Merchants Bank, offers a comprehensive suite of banking and financial services to individuals, businesses and public sector clients. The company's core business activities include retail and commercial banking, lending, treasury and cash management, and wealth advisory services. With a focus on relationship banking, First Merchants seeks to deliver tailored solutions for deposit accounts, loan financing and other credit products.

On the consumer side, First Merchants provides checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, personal and mortgage loans, and electronic banking conveniences.

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