Systematic Financial Management LP Grows Stock Holdings in First Merchants Corporation $FRME

Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its position in First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 778,328 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 16,286 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $29,172,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 361.7% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 771 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in First Merchants by 62.1% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 987 shares of the bank’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in First Merchants during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 68.9% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,042 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GGM Financials LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Merchants during the 3rd quarter valued at about $64,000. Institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Stock Performance

NASDAQ FRME opened at $40.14 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. First Merchants Corporation has a 12-month low of $34.66 and a 12-month high of $43.22. The firm has a market cap of $2.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.81 and a beta of 0.86.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.07. First Merchants had a net margin of 18.87% and a return on equity of 9.58%. The business had revenue of $163.53 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $201.91 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that First Merchants Corporation will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This is a positive change from First Merchants’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen raised First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 17th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on First Merchants from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut First Merchants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.33.

Insider Transactions at First Merchants

In other First Merchants news, VP Larry W. Myers sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.50, for a total transaction of $207,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 109,491 shares in the company, valued at $4,543,876.50. This represents a 4.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.