First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the six research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $49.00.

A number of analysts have weighed in on FRME shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 17th. Weiss Ratings cut First Merchants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on First Merchants from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th.

First Merchants Stock Performance

Shares of First Merchants stock opened at $43.69 on Wednesday. First Merchants has a one year low of $34.66 and a one year high of $44.23. The company has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a PE ratio of 12.85 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. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.68.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.07. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 18.87%.The business had revenue of $163.53 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $201.91 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that First Merchants will post 4.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This is a positive change from First Merchants’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Larry W. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.50, for a total transaction of $415,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 99,751 shares in the company, valued at $4,139,666.50. The trade was a 9.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Merchants

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in First Merchants by 27,081,812.5% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 15,165,871 shares of the bank’s stock worth $568,417,000 after purchasing an additional 15,165,815 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in First Merchants by 8.4% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,596,017 shares of the bank’s stock worth $139,272,000 after purchasing an additional 277,977 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in First Merchants by 0.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,005,625 shares of the bank’s stock worth $76,815,000 after purchasing an additional 6,924 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in First Merchants by 64.4% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,346,300 shares of the bank’s stock worth $50,756,000 after purchasing an additional 527,545 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC lifted its stake in First Merchants by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 1,058,247 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,663,000 after purchasing an additional 104,260 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

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.