First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Upgraded by Zacks Research to “Strong-Buy” Rating

Zacks Research upgraded shares of First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on FRME. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of First Merchants in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on First Merchants from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on First Merchants from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Raymond James Financial lowered First Merchants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Monday, September 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.00.

First Merchants Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:FRME opened at $37.98 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.56. The firm has a market cap of $2.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.84 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. First Merchants has a 52-week low of $33.13 and a 52-week high of $46.13.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $170.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $172.13 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 21.35%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that First Merchants will post 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.31%.

Institutional Trading of First Merchants

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in First Merchants during the first quarter worth $658,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 0.9% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 41,288 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,670,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 10,900.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 21,231 shares of the bank’s stock worth $859,000 after acquiring an additional 21,038 shares during the period. Integrity Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in First Merchants during the first quarter worth $768,000. Finally, Strs Ohio bought a new stake in First Merchants during the first quarter worth $7,342,000. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.