First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) Stock Rated “Moderate Buy” by Wall Street Brokerages

Posted by Brian Himes on Nov 10th, 2026

Shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME – Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $46.00.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on FRME. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of First Merchants from $51.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Stephens raised shares of First Merchants to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Raymond James Financial raised shares of First Merchants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Friday, October 30th.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on First Merchants

First Merchants Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FRME opened at $41.43 on Tuesday. First Merchants has a fifty-two week low of $34.66 and a fifty-two week high of $45.33. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $40.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market cap of $2.60 billion, a PE ratio of 10.88 and a beta of 0.90.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The bank reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.06. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.11% and a net margin of 17.56%. The company had revenue of $205.33 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $203.94 million. Sell-side analysts expect that First Merchants will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th were given a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 4th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. First Merchants’s payout ratio is presently 45.82%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Merchants

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fiduciary Financial Advisors acquired a new position in First Merchants in the second quarter worth about $32,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in First Merchants during the second quarter valued at approximately $43,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in First Merchants by 24.9% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,403 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in First Merchants during the second quarter valued at approximately $78,000. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in First Merchants during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $81,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company’s stock.