First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Cut to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Monday morning.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of First Merchants in a report on Monday, September 29th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of First Merchants from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of First Merchants from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of First Merchants from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut shares of First Merchants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Merchants presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.00.

First Merchants Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of FRME opened at $36.61 on Monday. First Merchants has a 52 week low of $33.13 and a 52 week high of $46.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.29. The firm has a market cap of $2.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.48 and a beta of 1.05.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. First Merchants had a net margin of 21.35% and a return on equity of 9.88%. The business had revenue of $172.35 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $172.78 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.84 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that First Merchants will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is 37.31%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in First Merchants by 361.7% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 771 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 604 shares during the period. Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in First Merchants in the first quarter valued at about $46,000. Caldwell Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of First Merchants in the second quarter worth about $50,000. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Merchants in the first quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of First Merchants by 98.4% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,784 shares of the bank’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 885 shares during the last quarter. 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.