Inspire Investing LLC Trims Holdings in First Merchants Corporation $FRME

Inspire Investing LLC trimmed its position in First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) by 15.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,473 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,582 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $343,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Integrity Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in First Merchants in the 1st quarter valued at about $768,000. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in shares of First Merchants during the 1st quarter worth about $7,342,000. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp purchased a new position in shares of First Merchants during the 1st quarter worth about $5,303,000. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 42.6% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 43,260 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,749,000 after acquiring an additional 12,922 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 941.6% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 107,859 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,362,000 after acquiring an additional 97,504 shares during the period. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Merchants Stock Down 0.5%

FRME opened at $39.45 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $40.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.72. The company has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a PE ratio of 10.22 and a beta of 1.10. First Merchants Corporation has a 1 year low of $33.13 and a 1 year 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.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.04. First Merchants had a net margin of 21.35% and a return on equity of 9.88%. The company had revenue of $170.52 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.13 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.68 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on FRME shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.25.

First Merchants 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.