Short Interest in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Increases By 23.7%

First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) saw a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 523,500 shares, a growth of 23.7% from the February 28th total of 423,100 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 269,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.9 days. Currently, 0.9% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Hovde Group raised shares of First Merchants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on First Merchants from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $55.00 price objective (up from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James cut their target price on First Merchants from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Merchants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.20.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in First Merchants by 108.3% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 750 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of First Merchants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 139.1% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,289 shares of the bank’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 809.9% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,838 shares of the bank’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 1,636 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in First Merchants by 270.1% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,728 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $109,000 after acquiring an additional 1,991 shares during the period. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Merchants Price Performance

NASDAQ:FRME opened at $40.11 on Thursday. First Merchants has a 52-week low of $30.55 and a 52-week high of $46.13. The company has a market cap of $2.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.73 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.74.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.10. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.23% and a net margin of 18.76%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that First Merchants will post 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.94%.

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.