First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Hits New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $44.47 and last traded at $44.2730, with a volume of 33162 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.69.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on FRME shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 17th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on First Merchants from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded First Merchants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, First Merchants has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.00.

First Merchants Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $40.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.94. The company has a market capitalization of $2.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.78 and a beta of 0.84.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $163.53 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $201.91 million. First Merchants had a net margin of 18.87% and a return on equity of 9.58%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that First Merchants Corporation will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were given a $0.37 dividend. This is a boost from First Merchants’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is 43.53%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Larry W. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.50, for a total transaction of $415,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 99,751 shares in the company, valued at $4,139,666.50. This represents a 9.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.77% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Merchants

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in First Merchants by 27,081,812.5% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 15,165,871 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $568,417,000 after buying an additional 15,165,815 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of First Merchants by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,596,017 shares of the bank’s stock worth $139,272,000 after buying an additional 277,977 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of First Merchants by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,005,625 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $76,815,000 after acquiring an additional 6,924 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of First Merchants by 64.4% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,346,300 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $50,756,000 after acquiring an additional 527,545 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 1,058,247 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,663,000 after acquiring an additional 104,260 shares during the period. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About First Merchants

First Merchants Corporation, through its subsidiary First Merchants Bank, offers a comprehensive suite of banking and financial services to individuals, businesses and public sector clients. The company’s core business activities include retail and commercial banking, lending, treasury and cash management, and wealth advisory services. With a focus on relationship banking, First Merchants seeks to deliver tailored solutions for deposit accounts, loan financing and other credit products.

On the consumer side, First Merchants provides checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, personal and mortgage loans, and electronic banking conveniences.