Wall Street Zen Upgrades First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) to Hold

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Sunday.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial cut First Merchants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Weiss Ratings cut First Merchants from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on First Merchants from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of First Merchants in a report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on First Merchants from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.00.

First Merchants Stock Up 1.5%

First Merchants stock opened at $36.71 on Friday. First Merchants has a twelve month low of $33.13 and a twelve month high of $46.13. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $39.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.51 and a beta of 1.05.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.04. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 21.35%.The company had revenue of $170.52 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $172.13 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that First Merchants will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Merchants

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FRME. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in First Merchants by 361.7% during 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 last quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in First Merchants during the first quarter worth $46,000. Caldwell Trust Co purchased a new position in First Merchants during the second quarter worth $50,000. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC purchased a new position in First Merchants during the first quarter worth $56,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in First Merchants by 98.4% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,784 shares of the bank’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 885 shares in the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Merchants Company Profile

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.