First Merchants Corporation $FRME Stake Lifted by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) by 8.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 34,339 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,820 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.06% of First Merchants worth $1,389,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FRME. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of First Merchants in the first quarter valued at approximately $24,523,000. OneAscent Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in First Merchants by 100.4% during the first quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 247,024 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,984,000 after purchasing an additional 123,738 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its stake in First Merchants by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 749,055 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,880,000 after purchasing an additional 66,380 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in First Merchants by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 626,508 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $24,991,000 after purchasing an additional 43,066 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Phocas Financial Corp. lifted its stake in First Merchants by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Phocas Financial Corp. now owns 281,626 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $11,234,000 after purchasing an additional 41,396 shares during the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

First Merchants Trading Up 0.9%

First Merchants stock opened at $41.79 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $39.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.06. First Merchants Corporation has a 52 week low of $33.13 and a 52 week high of $46.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.83 and a beta of 1.08.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.04. First Merchants had a net margin of 21.35% and a return on equity of 9.88%. The firm had revenue of $170.52 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $172.13 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.68 EPS. Research analysts forecast that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FRME has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of First Merchants from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.25.

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.