First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Receives “Overweight” Rating from Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler restated their overweight rating on shares of First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) in a research note released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $55.00 price target on the bank’s stock, up from their prior price target of $52.00.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Hovde Group raised shares of First Merchants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of First Merchants from $43.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.00.

First Merchants Stock Up 4.1 %

FRME stock opened at $44.44 on Friday. First Merchants has a fifty-two week low of $30.55 and a fifty-two week high of $46.13. The company has a market capitalization of $2.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.67 and a beta of 1.06. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $41.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.10. First Merchants had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 16.94%. As a group, analysts forecast that First Merchants will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.15%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.20%.

Insider Transactions at First Merchants

In other news, President Michael J. Stewart sold 7,248 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.73, for a total transaction of $316,955.04. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 92,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,052,196.72. This represents a 7.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.32% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Merchants

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake 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 worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in First Merchants by 139.1% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,289 shares of the bank’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in First Merchants by 78.9% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,893 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 835 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV bought a new position in shares of First Merchants during the 3rd quarter valued at $89,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 270.1% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,728 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 1,991 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Company Profile

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.