Brokerages Set First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) PT at $48.33

Shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $48.3333.

FRME has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of First Merchants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 17th.

First Merchants Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:FRME opened at $42.09 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.38 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.92. First Merchants has a 1 year low of $34.66 and a 1 year high of $43.22. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $40.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.26.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.07. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 18.87%.The company had revenue of $163.53 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $201.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that First Merchants will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This is a boost from First Merchants’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. First Merchants’s payout ratio is 43.53%.

Institutional Trading of First Merchants

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC bought a new stake in First Merchants during the third quarter valued at about $2,105,000. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL grew its holdings in First Merchants by 121.1% during the third quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 98,523 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,714,000 after purchasing an additional 53,953 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in First Merchants by 8.4% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 947,498 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $35,721,000 after purchasing an additional 73,725 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in First Merchants by 84.2% during the third quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 323,180 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,184,000 after purchasing an additional 147,704 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its holdings in First Merchants by 64.4% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,346,300 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $50,756,000 after purchasing an additional 527,545 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

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.