First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Downgraded by Raymond James Financial to "Market Perform"

Key Points

• First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) was downgraded by Raymond James Financial from an "outperform" to a "market perform" rating, reflecting cautious sentiment among analysts.
• Despite the downgrade, the company maintains a moderate buy rating from three analysts, with an average price target set at $48.50.
• In its most recent quarterly earnings report, First Merchants reported $0.98 earnings per share, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.94.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Raymond James Financial from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on FRME. Piper Sandler cut their price target on First Merchants from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on First Merchants from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $48.50.

First Merchants Price Performance

FRME stock opened at $38.96 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. First Merchants has a fifty-two week low of $33.13 and a fifty-two week high of $46.13. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $39.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.65. The stock has a market cap of $2.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.09 and a beta of 1.10.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.04. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 21.35%.The company had revenue of $170.52 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $172.13 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.68 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that First Merchants will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of First Merchants

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FRME. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in First Merchants in the first quarter valued at $24,523,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 842.5% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 334,593 shares of the bank's stock valued at $13,531,000 after acquiring an additional 299,092 shares during the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 1,034.4% during the first quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 202,055 shares of the bank's stock valued at $8,171,000 after acquiring an additional 184,243 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the first quarter valued at $7,342,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 169.3% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 261,904 shares of the bank's stock valued at $10,031,000 after acquiring an additional 164,664 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company's stock.

First Merchants Company Profile

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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