Short Interest in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Drops By 7.2%

First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 504,600 shares, a decline of 7.2% from the March 15th total of 543,500 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 269,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Insider Transactions at First Merchants

In other First Merchants news, insider Stephan Fluhler sold 3,193 shares of First Merchants stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.17, for a total value of $105,911.81. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,070 shares in the company, valued at approximately $798,401.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of First Merchants

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 16.3% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,893,975 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $138,157,000 after purchasing an additional 686,348 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 4,586.1% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 700,711 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,982,000 after buying an additional 685,758 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in First Merchants in the 4th quarter valued at about $19,196,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in First Merchants by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,708,968 shares of the bank’s stock worth $237,493,000 after acquiring an additional 426,862 shares in the last quarter. Finally, rhino investment partners Inc purchased a new position in shares of First Merchants during the fourth quarter worth approximately $8,572,000. 73.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Raymond James raised their price target on First Merchants from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com cut shares of First Merchants from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th.

First Merchants Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of FRME stock opened at $32.48 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.93 billion, a PE ratio of 8.68 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.80. First Merchants has a 1 year low of $24.52 and a 1 year high of $38.16.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87. First Merchants had a return on equity of 10.97% and a net margin of 22.39%. The company had revenue of $156.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $158.50 million. Research analysts predict that First Merchants will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.19%. First Merchants’s payout ratio is 36.36%.

First Merchants Company 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.