First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $49.00.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $55.00 price objective (up previously from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants 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 research note on Friday, January 31st. Hovde Group upgraded shares of First Merchants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Friday, January 31st.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of First Merchants by 108.3% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 750 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new stake in First Merchants during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in First Merchants by 139.1% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,289 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in First Merchants by 809.9% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,838 shares of the bank’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 1,636 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV bought a new position in First Merchants in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $89,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ:FRME opened at $40.68 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $41.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.47. 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 stock has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a PE ratio of 11.89 and a beta of 1.05. First Merchants has a fifty-two week low of $30.55 and a fifty-two week high of $46.13.

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

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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.