First Merchants Corporation $FRME Stock Holdings Raised by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) by 14.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 223,342 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 28,131 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $8,554,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of FRME. Waterfront Wealth Inc. raised its stake in First Merchants by 1.0% during the second quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 27,412 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,050,000 after buying an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 23,650 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $879,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of First Merchants by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 135,789 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,227,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey raised its position in shares of First Merchants by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 13,165 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $504,000 after acquiring an additional 721 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in First Merchants by 98.4% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,784 shares of the bank’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 885 shares during the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Merchants Stock Up 0.7%

FRME stock opened at $35.36 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $2.04 billion, a PE ratio of 8.84 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.37. First Merchants Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $33.13 and a fifty-two week high of $46.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.03. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.91% and a net margin of 22.04%.The business had revenue of $172.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $172.78 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on FRME shares. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of First Merchants from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered First Merchants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Merchants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.60.

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.