Zacks Research Upgrades First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) to Strong-Buy

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on FRME. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on First Merchants from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Raymond James Financial cut First Merchants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded First Merchants from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, First Merchants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.00.

First Merchants Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of First Merchants stock opened at $37.98 on Thursday. 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 has a 50-day moving average of $39.50 and a 200-day moving average of $38.56. First Merchants has a 52-week low of $33.13 and a 52-week high of $46.13. The stock has a market cap of $2.19 billion, a PE ratio of 9.84 and a beta of 1.05.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $170.52 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $172.13 million. First Merchants had a net margin of 21.35% and a return on equity of 9.88%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.68 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that First Merchants will post 3.79 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of First Merchants

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FRME. Caldwell Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants during the second quarter worth $50,000. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC grew its position in First Merchants by 10.9% during the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 6,489 shares of the bank’s stock worth $249,000 after acquiring an additional 639 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in First Merchants by 26.2% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 36,065 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,381,000 after purchasing an additional 7,491 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its position in First Merchants by 10.3% in the second quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 10,182 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $390,000 after purchasing an additional 948 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in First Merchants by 178.8% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 9,785 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $375,000 after purchasing an additional 6,275 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

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.