First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Cut to "Sell" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• First Merchants has been downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating, reflecting a shift in analyst sentiment.
• Other analysts have mixed opinions on the stock; while Weiss Ratings maintained a "buy" rating, Raymond James downgraded it to "market perform."
• The current consensus price target for First Merchants is $48.00, with the stock having a market cap of $2.19 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.84.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Raymond James Financial lowered First Merchants from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on First Merchants from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of First Merchants from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $48.00.

First Merchants Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of First Merchants stock opened at $37.98 on Friday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $39.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.56. The company has a market cap of $2.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.84 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. First Merchants has a 1 year low of $33.13 and a 1 year high of $46.13.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $170.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $172.13 million. First Merchants had a net margin of 21.35% and a return on equity of 9.88%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.68 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that First Merchants will post 3.79 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Merchants

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Waterfront Wealth Inc. boosted its holdings in First Merchants by 1.0% in the second quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 27,412 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,050,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. EJF Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. EJF Capital LLC now owns 11,884 shares of the bank's stock valued at $455,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 23,650 shares of the bank's stock valued at $879,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in First Merchants by 0.9% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 41,288 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,670,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.

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