Cwm LLC Grows Stock Holdings in First Merchants Corporation $FRME

Cwm LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) by 238.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,514 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,444 shares during the quarter. Cwm LLC’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $773,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in First Merchants by 361.7% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 771 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the last quarter. Caldwell Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants during the 2nd quarter valued at about $50,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of First Merchants by 98.4% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,784 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 885 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Merchants during the 2nd quarter worth about $203,000. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Merchants in the first quarter worth approximately $223,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FRME has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered shares of First Merchants from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on First Merchants from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.60.

First Merchants Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of First Merchants stock opened at $37.90 on Thursday. First Merchants Corporation has a twelve month low of $33.13 and a twelve month high of $45.62. The stock has a market cap of $2.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.48 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $37.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.44.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.03. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.82% and a net margin of 22.04%.The company had revenue of $172.35 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $172.78 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.84 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th were given a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.00%.

First Merchants Profile

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.