Harbour Investments Inc. Purchases New Shares in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Harbour Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 5,813 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in FRME. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 108.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 139.1% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,289 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV bought a new position in shares of First Merchants during the third quarter valued at about $89,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in First Merchants by 270.1% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,728 shares of the bank’s stock worth $109,000 after acquiring an additional 1,991 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in First Merchants in the third quarter worth about $153,000. 73.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on FRME shares. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective (up previously from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Hovde Group raised shares of First Merchants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report 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 report on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

First Merchants Stock Performance

NASDAQ FRME opened at $40.24 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $42.11 and its 200-day moving average is $40.49. First Merchants Co. has a 12-month low of $30.55 and a 12-month high of $46.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.77 and a beta of 1.05.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that First Merchants Co. will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.94%.

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.