First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Given “Equal Weight” Rating at Stephens

Stephens restated their equal weight rating on shares of First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) in a report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $46.00 price target on the bank’s stock.

FRME has been the topic of several other research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Piper Sandler lowered 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. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered First Merchants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.00.

First Merchants Trading Down 2.0%

First Merchants stock opened at $37.44 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $39.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.61. First Merchants has a 52 week low of $33.13 and a 52 week high of $46.13. The stock has a market cap of $2.16 billion, a PE ratio of 9.70 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $170.52 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.13 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that First Merchants will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.31%.

Institutional Trading of First Merchants

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of First Merchants by 361.7% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 771 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 604 shares during the period. Westend Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in First Merchants during the first quarter worth about $46,000. Caldwell Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of First Merchants in the 2nd quarter worth about $50,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 314.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants in the 1st quarter valued at about $56,000. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.