First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) Stock Has Average Target Price of $46.00

by · The Markets Daily

Shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME – Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $46.00.

FRME has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stephens upgraded 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 objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of First Merchants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $51.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 5th.

View Our Latest Research Report on First Merchants

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Merchants

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the 2nd quarter valued at $232,637,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of First Merchants by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,596,017 shares of the bank’s stock worth $139,272,000 after purchasing an additional 277,977 shares in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its position in shares of First Merchants by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 861,995 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,385,000 after purchasing an additional 83,667 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in First Merchants by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 725,259 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,089,000 after buying an additional 9,771 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FJ Capital Management LLC grew its stake in First Merchants by 115.0% during the 4th quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC now owns 633,668 shares of the bank’s stock worth $23,750,000 after buying an additional 338,950 shares during the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Merchants Price Performance

Shares of FRME stock opened at $39.48 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $41.13 and its 200 day moving average is $41.29. First Merchants has a 1-year low of $34.66 and a 1-year high of $45.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $2.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.65 and a beta of 0.87.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by ($0.28). The firm had revenue of $202.49 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $202.78 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 8.86% and a net margin of 17.05%. Research analysts predict that First Merchants will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th were paid a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 4th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.44%.

First Merchants Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ: FRME) is a financial services company headquartered in Muncie, Indiana. Through its principal subsidiary, First Merchants Bank, the company provides banking and related financial services to individuals, families, businesses, and institutions.

Its offerings include personal and business deposit accounts, consumer and commercial loans, residential mortgage lending, cash-management and treasury services, investment and trust services, and wealth-management solutions.

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