Stephens Reiterates "Equal Weight" Rating for First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME)

Key Points

• Stephens has reaffirmed its "equal weight" rating for First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) with a price target of $46.00, suggesting a potential upside of 21.21% from the current stock price.
• Recent analyst reports show a mixed outlook, with Raymond James downgrading their rating to "market perform" while Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target to $50.00.
• First Merchants reported an EPS of $0.98 for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, though revenue fell short of expectations at $170.52 million.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "equal weight" rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Stephens in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $46.00 price target on the bank's stock. Stephens' price objective would indicate a potential upside of 21.21% from the stock's current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Raymond James Financial lowered First Merchants from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on First Merchants from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on First Merchants from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, First Merchants has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $48.00.

First Merchants Stock Performance

Shares of FRME stock opened at $37.95 on Monday. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $39.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.63. First Merchants has a one year low of $33.13 and a one year high of $46.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.19 billion, a PE ratio of 9.84 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.04. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 21.35%.The business had revenue of $170.52 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $172.13 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that First Merchants will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Merchants

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the 4th quarter valued at $669,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of First Merchants by 21.2% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 124,573 shares of the bank's stock valued at $4,969,000 after purchasing an additional 21,750 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of First Merchants by 10,900.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 21,231 shares of the bank's stock valued at $859,000 after purchasing an additional 21,038 shares during the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the 1st quarter valued at $265,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its position in shares of First Merchants by 314.5% during the 1st quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 1,318 shares of the bank's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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