Brokerages Set First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) PT at $47.60

Shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $47.60.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of First Merchants from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on First Merchants from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 27th. Wall Street Zen raised First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Monday, September 29th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Merchants

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Waterfront Wealth Inc. raised its stake in First Merchants by 1.0% during the second quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 27,412 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,050,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. EJF Capital LLC grew its holdings in First Merchants by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. EJF Capital LLC now owns 11,884 shares of the bank’s stock worth $455,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its position in shares of First Merchants by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 23,650 shares of the bank’s stock worth $879,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 54,058 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,070,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of First Merchants by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 135,789 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,227,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

First Merchants Stock Performance

Shares of FRME stock opened at $35.30 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.83 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. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $37.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.35. First Merchants has a 12 month low of $33.13 and a 12 month high of $46.13.

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

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.00%.

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.