Brokerages Set First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Price Target at $41.60

Shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the five research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $41.60.

Several brokerages have issued reports on FRME. Hovde Group began coverage on First Merchants in a research note on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $38.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on First Merchants from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Stephens lowered First Merchants from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $45.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Merchants

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Waterfront Wealth Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 1.1% during the second quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 26,433 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $880,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in First Merchants by 3.2% during the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 10,614 shares of the bank’s stock worth $353,000 after buying an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in First Merchants by 12.0% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,616 shares of the bank’s stock worth $135,000 after buying an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. 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 buying an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in First Merchants by 7.9% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 7,074 shares of the bank’s stock worth $233,000 after buying an additional 519 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Price Performance

First Merchants stock opened at $42.97 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $39.66 and its 200 day moving average is $36.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $2.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.18 and a beta of 1.05. First Merchants has a one year low of $30.55 and a one year high of $46.13.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $265.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.55 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 16.94%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that First Merchants will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is 46.20%.

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.