First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the five research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $46.40.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of First Merchants from $55.00 to $49.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Raymond James Financial lowered their price target on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. 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 report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of First Merchants from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th.

First Merchants Stock Up 0.6%

NASDAQ:FRME traded up $0.21 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $35.93. The stock had a trading volume of 1,052,556 shares, compared to its average volume of 268,073. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $36.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.63. First Merchants has a 1-year low of $31.16 and a 1-year high of $46.13. The company has a market capitalization of $2.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.09 and a beta of 1.03.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $160.32 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $171.23 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.28% and a net margin of 19.63%. Equities analysts anticipate that First Merchants will post 3.79 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a $0.36 dividend. This is a positive change from First Merchants's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. First Merchants's dividend payout ratio is currently 40.45%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Merchants

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new position in First Merchants in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new position in First Merchants in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its stake in First Merchants by 314.5% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC bought a new position in First Merchants in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of First Merchants by 809.9% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,838 shares of the bank's stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 1,636 shares during the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.