Hovde Group Upgrades First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) to “Outperform”

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) was upgraded by research analysts at Hovde Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The firm presently has a $50.00 target price on the bank’s stock. Hovde Group’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 17.07% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on FRME. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on First Merchants from $43.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.25.

First Merchants Stock Up 3.5 %

First Merchants stock opened at $42.71 on Friday. First Merchants has a twelve month low of $30.55 and a twelve month high of $46.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.10 and a beta of 1.06. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $41.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.28.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.10. First Merchants had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 16.94%. As a group, analysts expect that First Merchants will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Merchants

In related news, President Michael J. Stewart sold 7,248 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.73, for a total transaction of $316,955.04. Following the transaction, the president now owns 92,664 shares in the company, valued at $4,052,196.72. This represents a 7.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.32% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Merchants

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 270.1% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,728 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 1,991 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in First Merchants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $233,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of First Merchants by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 222,066 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,858,000 after purchasing an additional 10,934 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its position in shares of First Merchants by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 44,139 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,761,000 after purchasing an additional 1,555 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of First Merchants by 27.9% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,052 shares of the bank’s stock worth $122,000 after purchasing an additional 665 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

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.