Wall Street Zen Upgrades First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) to Hold

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Raymond James dropped their price objective on First Merchants from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Hovde Group raised shares of First Merchants from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $55.00 to $49.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $46.40.

First Merchants Trading Down 0.8%

First Merchants stock traded down $0.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $37.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 272,181 shares, compared to its average volume of 265,510. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $37.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89. First Merchants has a 12 month low of $30.55 and a 12 month high of $46.13. The stock has a market cap of $2.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.92 and a beta of 1.02.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $171.23 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.23% and a net margin of 18.76%. As a group, analysts forecast that First Merchants will post 3.79 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Merchants

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new stake in First Merchants during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Merchants in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of First Merchants by 139.1% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,289 shares of the bank's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its stake in First Merchants by 314.5% in the first quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 1,318 shares of the bank's stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Finally, Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC bought a new position in First Merchants in the first quarter worth $56,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.