First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.04, Zacks reports. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.91% and a net margin of 21.35%. The company had revenue of $170.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $172.13 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.68 EPS.

First Merchants Price Performance

Shares of FRME traded up $0.06 on Friday, hitting $39.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 321,507 shares, compared to its average volume of 336,906. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $38.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.43. First Merchants has a fifty-two week low of $33.13 and a fifty-two week high of $46.13. 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 company has a market capitalization of $2.32 billion, a PE ratio of 10.31 and a beta of 1.02.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a $0.36 dividend. This is an increase from First Merchants's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. First Merchants's payout ratio is presently 37.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on First Merchants from $55.00 to $49.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded First Merchants from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on First Merchants from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered their price objective on First Merchants from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.40.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 34,708 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,404,000 after buying an additional 1,522 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 132,785 shares of the bank's stock worth $5,370,000 after buying an additional 8,212 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 42.6% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 43,260 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,749,000 after buying an additional 12,922 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 19.5% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 118,650 shares of the bank's stock worth $4,798,000 after buying an additional 19,375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 941.6% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 107,859 shares of the bank's stock worth $4,362,000 after buying an additional 97,504 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company's stock.

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.