Empowered Funds LLC Trims Stock Holdings in First Merchants Corporation $FRME

Empowered Funds LLC reduced its position in First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) by 5.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 223,027 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 14,002 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC owned about 0.35% of First Merchants worth $8,638,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL boosted its stake in First Merchants by 121.1% during the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 98,523 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,714,000 after purchasing an additional 53,953 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its position in First Merchants by 892.3% during the 1st quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 84,049 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,255,000 after purchasing an additional 75,579 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP increased its stake in First Merchants by 10.7% in the first quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 861,995 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,385,000 after purchasing an additional 83,667 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP acquired a new position in First Merchants in the fourth quarter valued at $1,874,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 8.4% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,596,017 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $139,272,000 after buying an additional 277,977 shares during the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Larry W. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.50, for a total transaction of $415,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 99,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,139,666.50. This represents a 9.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.77% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on FRME shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of First Merchants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on First Merchants from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

First Merchants Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FRME opened at $43.14 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $42.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.49. First Merchants Corporation has a 1-year low of $34.66 and a 1-year high of $45.33. The company has a market cap of $2.72 billion, a PE ratio of 13.83 and a beta of 0.84.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by ($0.28). The firm had revenue of $202.49 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $202.78 million. First Merchants had a net margin of 17.05% and a return on equity of 9.02%. Sell-side analysts forecast that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.94 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. This is a positive change from First Merchants’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.44%.

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.