Brokerages Set First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) Target Price at $48.33

First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the six research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $48.3333.

FRME has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of First Merchants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of First Merchants from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th.

First Merchants Price Performance

NASDAQ:FRME opened at $40.36 on Friday. First Merchants has a one year low of $34.66 and a one year high of $43.22. The company has a market cap of $2.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.38 and a beta of 0.88. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $39.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 26th. The bank reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. First Merchants had a net margin of 21.49% and a return on equity of 9.58%. The firm had revenue of $178.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.89 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that First Merchants will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is 37.02%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Larry W. Myers sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.50, for a total value of $207,500.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 109,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,543,876.50. This represents a 4.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Eva D. Scurlock sold 3,227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.29, for a total transaction of $136,469.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 20,063 shares in the company, valued at $848,464.27. This trade represents a 13.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 1.77% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Merchants

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants in the first quarter valued at about $444,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants in the first quarter valued at about $489,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in shares of First Merchants by 96.9% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 12,905 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $483,000 after acquiring an additional 6,350 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of First Merchants by 26.8% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 9,595 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $360,000 after acquiring an additional 2,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mendon Capital Advisors Corp grew its stake in shares of First Merchants by 26.7% in the fourth quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 95,000 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,561,000 after acquiring an additional 20,000 shares in the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About First Merchants

First Merchants Corporation, through its subsidiary First Merchants Bank, offers a comprehensive suite of banking and financial services to individuals, businesses and public sector clients. The company’s core business activities include retail and commercial banking, lending, treasury and cash management, and wealth advisory services. With a focus on relationship banking, First Merchants seeks to deliver tailored solutions for deposit accounts, loan financing and other credit products.

On the consumer side, First Merchants provides checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, personal and mortgage loans, and electronic banking conveniences.