PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Has $925,000 Stock Position in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,867 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,010 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $925,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in FRME. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in First Merchants by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,475,053 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $115,682,000 after buying an additional 180,323 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,694,006 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $89,683,000 after acquiring an additional 75,677 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of First Merchants by 1.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 886,088 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,962,000 after acquiring an additional 11,521 shares during the last quarter. First Merchants Corp raised its holdings in First Merchants by 457.3% during the second quarter. First Merchants Corp now owns 581,863 shares of the bank’s stock worth $19,370,000 after acquiring an additional 477,462 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in First Merchants during the second quarter valued at approximately $8,218,000. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Merchants Stock Performance

Shares of FRME stock opened at $43.96 on Friday. First Merchants Co. has a 52 week low of $30.25 and a 52 week high of $46.13. The company has a market capitalization of $2.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.51 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.06). First Merchants had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 16.94%. The firm had revenue of $265.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.55 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that First Merchants Co. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on FRME. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on First Merchants from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Stephens cut shares of First Merchants from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $45.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Hovde Group started coverage on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Monday, August 12th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, First Merchants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.60.

First Merchants 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.