First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Raised to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

FRME has been the subject of several other research reports. Raymond James Financial cut First Merchants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of First Merchants in a report on Monday, September 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of First Merchants from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, First Merchants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.00.

First Merchants Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FRME opened at $37.98 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. First Merchants has a 52 week low of $33.13 and a 52 week high of $46.13. The firm has a market cap of $2.19 billion, a PE ratio of 9.84 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $39.50 and its 200-day moving average is $38.56.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $170.52 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.13 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 21.35%.During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.68 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that First Merchants will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Caldwell Trust Co bought a new position in First Merchants in the second quarter worth approximately $50,000. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 10.9% during the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 6,489 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $249,000 after acquiring an additional 639 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of First Merchants by 26.2% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 36,065 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,381,000 after purchasing an additional 7,491 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 10,182 shares of the bank’s stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 948 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in First Merchants by 178.8% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 9,785 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $375,000 after purchasing an additional 6,275 shares during the period. 73.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About First Merchants

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.