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NASDAQ:FRME

First Merchants (FRME) Stock Price, News & Analysis

First Merchants logo
$41.74 +0.19 (+0.45%)
As of 01:07 PM Eastern
This is a fair market value price provided by Massive. Learn more.

About First Merchants Stock (NASDAQ:FRME)

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Key Stats

Today's Range
$41.39
$41.83
50-Day Range
$40.59
$45.23
52-Week Range
$34.66
$45.33
Volume
100,648 shs
Average Volume
398,283 shs
Market Capitalization
$2.62 billion
P/E Ratio
13.38
Dividend Yield
3.55%
Price Target
$49.00
Consensus Rating
Moderate Buy

Company Overview

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. For businesses and institutions, the company delivers commercial and industrial lending, equipment financing, lines of credit, and specialized treasury management services designed to optimize cash flow and operational efficiency. Wealth management offerings include trust and fiduciary services, investment advisory, retirement planning, and brokerage services to help clients pursue long-term financial objectives.

The company is headquartered in Muncie, Indiana, and operates a network of branch offices and lending centers across central and northern Indiana as well as central Ohio. By maintaining deep ties to its communities, First Merchants emphasizes local decision-making and personalized service, supporting economic development and small business growth in its markets.

Tracing its origins to the late 19th century, First Merchants has grown through a combination of organic expansion and strategic acquisitions. The bank is governed by an experienced management team that focuses on sustainable growth, disciplined risk management and delivering value to shareholders and customers alike.

AI Generated. May Contain Errors.

First Merchants Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

See Top-Rated MarketRank™ Stocks
98th Percentile Overall Score

FRME MarketRank™: 

First Merchants scored higher than 98% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 51st out of 839 stocks in the finance sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

  • Consensus Rating

    First Merchants has received a consensus rating of Moderate Buy. The company's average rating score is 2.50, and is based on no strong buy ratings, 3 buy ratings, 3 hold ratings, and no sell ratings.

  • Upside Potential

    First Merchants has a consensus price target of $49.00, representing about 17.4% upside from its current price of $41.75.

  • Amount of Analyst Coverage

    First Merchants has only been the subject of 2 research reports in the past 90 days.

  • Read more about First Merchants' stock forecast and price target.
  • Earnings Growth

    Earnings for First Merchants are expected to grow by 12.94% in the coming year, from $3.94 to $4.45 per share.

  • Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

    The P/E ratio of First Merchants is 13.38, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 39.20.

  • Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

    The P/E ratio of First Merchants is 13.38, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Finance sector average P/E ratio of about 26.59.

  • Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

    First Merchants has a P/B Ratio of 0.98. P/B Ratios below 1 indicate that a company could be undervalued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

  • Read more about First Merchants' valuation and earnings.
  • Percentage of Shares Shorted

    2.96% 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 4.85.
  • Change versus previous month

    Short interest in First Merchants has recently decreased by 2.21%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving.
  • Dividend Leadership

    First Merchants is a leading dividend payer. It pays a dividend yield of 3.53%, 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 33.26% next year. This indicates that First Merchants will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

  • Read more about First Merchants' dividend.
  • News Sentiment

    First Merchants has a news sentiment score of 1.27. 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 0.93 average news sentiment score of Finance companies.
  • News Coverage This Week

    MarketBeat has tracked 13 news articles for First Merchants this week, compared to 4 articles on an average week.
  • Search Interest

    11 people have searched for FRME on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 1,000% compared to the previous 30 days.
  • MarketBeat Follows

    1 people have added First Merchants to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days.
  • Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

    In the past three months, First Merchants insiders have sold more of their company's stock than they have bought. Specifically, they have bought $0.00 in company stock and sold $415,000.00 in 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.

  • Read more about First Merchants' insider trading history.
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FRME Stock News Headlines

Why major institutions are piling into this digital asset now
BlackRock, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and Fidelity are reportedly accumulating a scarce blockchain asset - one that gets burned with every transaction on what analysts are calling America's new financial grid. The Nasdaq has received SEC approval to move stocks onto blockchain rails, and BlackRock CEO Larry Fink dedicated his entire 2026 annual letter to this infrastructure shift. Blockchain analyst Andy Howard is calling this asset 'Digital Oil' - and says institutional buyers are already positioned.tc pixel
First Merchants Corporation Announces Cash Dividend
See More Headlines

FRME Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions

First Merchants' stock was trading at $37.48 on January 1st, 2026. Since then, FRME shares have increased by 11.4% and is now trading at $41.7450.

First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July, 22nd. The bank reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.28. The bank had revenue of $202.49 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $202.78 million. First Merchants had a net margin of 17.05% and a trailing twelve-month return on equity of 8.86%.
Read the conference call transcript
.

First Merchants' top institutional investors include BlackRock Inc. (8.48%), California State Teachers Retirement System (4.95%), Wellington Management Group LLP (1.11%) and William Blair Investment Management LLC (0.99%). Insiders that own company stock include Patrick J Fehring, Larry W Myers, Michael J Stewart, Michael C Rechin, Howard Halderman, Stephan Fluhler and Eva D Scurlock.
View institutional ownership trends
.

Shares of FRME stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Fidelity, and Vanguard Brokerage Services.

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some other companies that First Merchants investors own include Tesla (TSLA), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), NVIDIA (NVDA), Meta Platforms (META), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Netflix (NFLX) and Visa (V).

Company Calendar

Record date for 6/19 Dividend
6/05/2026
Ex-Dividend for 6/19 Dividend
6/05/2026
Dividend Payable
6/19/2026
Last Earnings
7/22/2026
Today
8/26/2026
Record date for 9/18 Dividend
9/04/2026
Ex-Dividend for 9/18 Dividend
9/04/2026
Dividend Payable
9/18/2026
Next Earnings (Estimated)
10/28/2026
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
Employees
2,086
Year Founded
1982

Price Target and Rating

High Price Target
$51.00
Low Price Target
$46.00
Potential Upside/Downside
+17.5%
Consensus Rating
Moderate Buy
Rating Score (0-4)
2.50
Research Coverage
6 Analysts

Profitability

EPS (Trailing Twelve Months)
$3.12
Trailing P/E Ratio
13.37
Forward P/E Ratio
10.58
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
2.49
Cash Flow
$4.40 per share
Price / Cash Flow
9.47
Book Value
$42.55 per share
Price / Book
0.98

Miscellaneous

Outstanding Shares
62,800,000
Free Float
61,689,000
Market Cap
$2.62 billion
Optionable
Optionable
Beta
0.84

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This page (NASDAQ:FRME) was last updated on 8/26/2026 by MarketBeat.com Staff.
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