First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $44.47 and last traded at $44.2730, with a volume of 33162 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $43.69.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FRME. Piper Sandler raised their target price on First Merchants from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of First Merchants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

First Merchants Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $40.65 and its 200-day moving average is $39.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.06 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.94.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.03 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 company had revenue of $163.53 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $201.91 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that First Merchants Corporation will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. This is a boost from First Merchants’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. First Merchants’s payout ratio is 43.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Larry W. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.50, for a total value of $415,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 99,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,139,666.50. This represents a 9.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.77% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of First Merchants

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 19.5% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 118,650 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,798,000 after buying an additional 19,375 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in First Merchants by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 34,708 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,404,000 after acquiring an additional 1,522 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in First Merchants by 6.6% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 132,785 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,370,000 after acquiring an additional 8,212 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 941.6% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 107,859 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,362,000 after purchasing an additional 97,504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of First Merchants by 42.6% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 43,260 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,749,000 after purchasing an additional 12,922 shares during the period. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.