First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) Receives $47.60 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $47.60.

Several research firms have weighed in on FRME. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of First Merchants in a report on Monday, December 29th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of First Merchants from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st.

First Merchants Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of First Merchants stock opened at $38.11 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $37.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.45. First Merchants has a 12-month low of $33.13 and a 12-month high of $45.62. 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 stock has a market cap of $2.20 billion, a PE ratio of 9.53 and a beta of 0.93.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 9.82% and a net margin of 22.04%.The business had revenue of $172.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $172.78 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.84 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that First Merchants will post 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Merchants

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FRME. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $270,000. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co bought a new stake in shares of First Merchants in the 2nd quarter worth about $599,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of First Merchants in the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,109,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 0.3% during the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 135,789 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,227,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in First Merchants during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,749,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Company 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.