First Merchants (FRME) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ: FRME) is a financial services company headquartered in Muncie, Indiana. Through its principal subsidiary, First Merchants Bank, the company provides banking and related financial services to individuals, families, businesses, and institutions.

Its offerings include personal and business deposit accounts, consumer and commercial loans, residential mortgage lending, cash-management and treasury services, investment and trust services, and wealth-management solutions. The bank also provides specialized services for agricultural customers and other commercial clients.

First Merchants traces its history to 1893 and has expanded through organic growth and acquisitions. Its banking operations primarily serve communities across Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and Illinois through branch locations, digital banking platforms, and other delivery channels.

Mark K. Hardwick serves as president and chief executive officer of First Merchants Corporation. The company focuses on relationship-based banking and supporting the financial needs of the communities and businesses in its service area.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $38.78 to $39.63
• 50-Day Range: $39.00 to $43.70
• 52-Week Range: $34.66 to $45.33
• Volume: 302,035 shs
• Average Volume: 562,497 shs
• Market Capitalization: $2.45 billion
• P/E Ratio: 10.49
• Dividend Yield: 3.79%
• Price Target: $46.00
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy

First Merchants Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

First Merchants scored higher than 95% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 136th out of 851 stocks in the finance sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 3.5 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Moderate Buy

Consensus Rating

First Merchants has received a consensus rating of Moderate Buy. The company's average rating score is 2.60, and is based on no strong buy ratings, 3 buy ratings, 2 hold ratings, and no sell ratings.

Upside Potential

First Merchants has a consensus price target of $46.00, representing about 17.8% upside from its current price of $39.06.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

First Merchants has only been the subject of 4 research reports in the past 90 days.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 3.1 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 14.07%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for First Merchants are expected to grow by 14.07% in the coming year, from $3.91 to $4.46 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of First Merchants is 10.49, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 39.94.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of First Merchants is 10.49, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Finance sector average P/E ratio of about 22.13.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

First Merchants has a P/B Ratio of 0.93. P/B Ratios below 1 indicate that a company could be undervalued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 2.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Bearish

Percentage of Shares Shorted

3.92% of the float of First Merchants has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

First Merchants has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 4.15.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in First Merchants has recently increased by 2.09%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing.

Dividend

• Score: 5.0 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Strong

Dividend Leadership

First Merchants is a leading dividend payer. It pays a dividend yield of 3.77%, putting its dividend yield in the top 25% of dividend-paying stocks.

Dividend Growth

First Merchants has been increasing its dividend for 13 years.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of First Merchants is 47.44%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on earnings estimates, First Merchants will have a dividend payout ratio of 33.18% next year. This indicates that First Merchants will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

News and Social Media

• Score: 3.0 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.85

News Sentiment

First Merchants has a news sentiment score of 0.85. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a higher news sentiment than the 0.65 average news sentiment score of Finance companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 2 news articles for First Merchants this week, compared to 4 articles on an average week.

MarketBeat Follows

1 people have added First Merchants to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 0.8 / 5
• Insider Trading: N/A

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, First Merchants insiders have not sold or bought any company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

1.77% of the stock of First Merchants is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

73.92% of the stock of First Merchants is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

Company Calendar

• Last Earnings: 7/22/2026
• Record date for 9/18 Dividend: 9/04/2026
• Ex-Dividend for 9/18 Dividend: 9/04/2026
• Dividend Payable: 9/18/2026
• Today: 10/13/2026
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 10/21/2026
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2026

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NASDAQ
• Sector: Finance
• Industry: Banks
• Sub-Industry: Regional Banks
• Current Symbol: NASDAQ:FRME
• CIK: 712534
• Web: www.firstmerchants.com
• Phone: (765) 747-1500
• Fax: 765-282-6304
• Employees: 2,086
• Year Founded: 1982

Price Target and Rating

• Average Price Target for First Merchants: $46.00
• High Price Target: $46.00
• Low Price Target: $46.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +17.8%
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.60
• Research Coverage: 5 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $3.12
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 10.49
• Forward P/E Ratio: 9.99
• P/E Growth: N/A
• Net Income: $226 million
• Net Margins: 17.05%
• Pretax Margin: 18.85%
• Return on Equity: 8.86%
• Return on Assets: 1.12%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 0.56
• Current Ratio: 0.95
• Quick Ratio: 0.95

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $1.05 billion
• Price / Sales: 2.33
• Cash Flow: $4.40 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 8.87
• Book Value: $42.22 per share
• Price / Book: 0.93

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 62,800,000
• Free Float: 61,689,000
• Market Cap: $2.45 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 0.87