First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.28 EPS

Key Points

• First Merchants reported quarterly EPS of $0.74, falling well short of the $1.02 consensus estimate, while revenue of $202.49 million was roughly in line with expectations.
• The stock traded down 0.6% to $43.75 after the report, near its 12-month high, with the company carrying a market cap of about $2.76 billion.
• The bank raised its quarterly dividend to $0.37 from $0.36, implying a $1.48 annualized payout and a 3.4% yield.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The bank reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.02 by ($0.28), FiscalAI reports. The business had revenue of $202.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $202.78 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 18.87%.

First Merchants Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of FRME traded down $0.28 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $43.75. The stock had a trading volume of 555,696 shares, compared to its average volume of 397,540. First Merchants has a 12-month low of $34.66 and a 12-month high of $45.33. The firm has a market cap of $2.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.87 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.94. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $41.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.22.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were given a $0.37 dividend. This is an increase from First Merchants's previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. First Merchants's dividend payout ratio is 43.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded First Merchants from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, May 17th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of First Merchants from a "buy (b)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, First Merchants presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $49.00.

Insider Transactions at First Merchants

In other First Merchants news, Director Larry W. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.50, for a total transaction of $415,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 99,751 shares in the company, valued at $4,139,666.50. This represents a 9.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.77% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of First Merchants

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 19,375 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in First Merchants by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 34,708 shares of the bank's stock valued at $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 position in First Merchants by 6.6% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 132,785 shares of the bank's stock valued at $5,370,000 after buying an additional 8,212 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in First Merchants by 941.6% during the first 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 during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in First Merchants by 42.6% during the first 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.92% of the company's stock.

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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