First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Stock Rating Raised to Outperform at Raymond James Financial

Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a report published on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $46.00 price target on the bank’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler cut their target price 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. Stephens upgraded First Merchants to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded First Merchants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.00.

First Merchants Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:FRME opened at $39.67 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $41.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.21. First Merchants has a 1 year low of $34.66 and a 1 year high of $45.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.71 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.02 by ($0.28). The company had revenue of $202.49 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $202.78 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 8.86% and a net margin of 17.05%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that First Merchants will post 3.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th were paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 4th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.44%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of First Merchants in the second quarter valued at approximately $232,637,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in First Merchants by 8.4% during the first 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 last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP grew its holdings in First Merchants by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 861,995 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,385,000 after buying an additional 83,667 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of First Merchants by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 725,259 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,089,000 after acquiring an additional 9,771 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Merchants in the 2nd quarter worth $27,195,000. 73.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Merchants Company Profile

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.