First Merchants Corporation $FRME Shares Purchased by Cwm LLC

Cwm LLC boosted its holdings in First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) by 30.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 6,070 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 1,401 shares during the quarter. Cwm LLC’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $232,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Inspire Investing LLC grew its position in First Merchants by 22.3% in the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 10,364 shares of the bank’s stock worth $397,000 after buying an additional 1,891 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in First Merchants by 98.4% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,784 shares of the bank’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 885 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS grew its position in First Merchants by 12.6% in the second quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 12,500 shares of the bank’s stock worth $479,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its position in First Merchants by 9.8% in the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 29,082 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,114,000 after buying an additional 2,596 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in First Merchants in the second quarter worth approximately $261,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FRME opened at $36.75 on Tuesday. First Merchants Corporation has a 12-month low of $33.13 and a 12-month high of $46.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a PE ratio of 9.19 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $39.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.34.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $172.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $172.78 million. First Merchants had a net margin of 22.04% and a return on equity of 9.91%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.84 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on FRME. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Raymond James Financial cut shares of First Merchants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of First Merchants from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of First Merchants from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, First Merchants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.60.

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.