First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Price Target Cut to $46.00 by Analysts at Piper Sandler

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) had its price target decreased by Piper Sandler from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research report report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on FRME. Weiss Ratings upgraded First Merchants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Stephens upgraded shares of First Merchants to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Merchants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.00.

First Merchants Trading Down 0.9%

NASDAQ:FRME opened at $39.77 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. First Merchants has a one year low of $34.66 and a one year high of $45.33. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.19. The stock has a market cap of $2.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.75 and a beta of 0.87.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by ($0.28). First Merchants had a net margin of 17.05% and a return on equity of 8.86%. The business had revenue of $202.49 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $202.78 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that First Merchants will post 3.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th were given a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 4th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.44%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Merchants

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in First Merchants in the second quarter valued at approximately $232,637,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of First Merchants by 8.4% during the 1st 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 period. Systematic Financial Management LP raised its position in shares of First Merchants by 10.7% during the 1st quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 861,995 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,385,000 after purchasing an additional 83,667 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 725,259 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,089,000 after purchasing an additional 9,771 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Merchants in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,195,000. Institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

About First Merchants

First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ: FRME) is a financial services company headquartered in Muncie, Indiana. Through its principal subsidiary, First Merchants Bank, the company provides banking and related financial services to individuals, families, businesses, and institutions.

Its offerings include personal and business deposit accounts, consumer and commercial loans, residential mortgage lending, cash-management and treasury services, investment and trust services, and wealth-management solutions.