Bailard Inc. Buys New Holdings in First Merchants Corporation $FRME

Bailard Inc. bought a new stake in First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 20,000 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $754,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in FRME. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of First Merchants by 361.7% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 771 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 604 shares during the last quarter. Caldwell Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in First Merchants by 98.4% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,784 shares of the bank’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 885 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new position in shares of First Merchants during the third quarter worth about $92,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new stake in First Merchants in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on FRME shares. Raymond James Financial downgraded First Merchants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Zacks Research lowered shares of First Merchants from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on First Merchants from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of First Merchants from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.60.

First Merchants Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FRME opened at $38.09 on Friday. First Merchants Corporation has a one year low of $33.13 and a one year high of $45.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The company has a market cap of $2.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.52 and a beta of 0.93. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.39.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.03. First Merchants had a net margin of 22.04% and a return on equity of 9.82%. The business had revenue of $172.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.78 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.84 EPS. Research analysts predict that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th were issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. First Merchants’s payout ratio is presently 36.00%.

About First Merchants

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.