First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Lowered to “Sell” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Saturday.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on FRME. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on First Merchants from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of First Merchants from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, First Merchants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.33.

First Merchants Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of FRME stock opened at $40.41 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. First Merchants has a 12-month low of $34.66 and a 12-month high of $43.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.89 and a beta of 0.86. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $39.17 and its 200 day moving average is $38.54.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $163.53 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $201.91 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 18.87%.During the same period last year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. Research analysts expect that First Merchants will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Merchants news, VP Larry W. Myers sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.50, for a total value of $207,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 109,491 shares in the company, valued at $4,543,876.50. This represents a 4.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.77% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Merchants

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in First Merchants by 361.7% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 771 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 604 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 325.7% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 796 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 609 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 62.1% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 987 shares of the bank’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in First Merchants in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in First Merchants by 68.9% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,042 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.