Piper Sandler Cuts First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Price Target to $48.00

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) had its target price cut by Piper Sandler from $49.00 to $48.00 in a report issued on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the bank’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on FRME. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of First Merchants from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Raymond James Financial dropped their target price on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.20.

First Merchants Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:FRME opened at $38.66 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $38.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. First Merchants has a one year low of $33.13 and a one year high of $46.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.25 billion, a PE ratio of 10.02 and a beta of 1.02.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.04. First Merchants had a net margin of 21.35% and a return on equity of 9.91%. The firm had revenue of $170.52 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $172.13 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that First Merchants will post 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a $0.36 dividend. This is a boost from First Merchants’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.31%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Denali Advisors LLC raised its holdings in First Merchants by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 174,384 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,679,000 after acquiring an additional 14,005 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew 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 worth $5,227,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of First Merchants by 30.0% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,070 shares of the bank’s stock worth $232,000 after purchasing an additional 1,401 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its position in shares of First Merchants by 22.3% during the 2nd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 10,364 shares of the bank’s stock worth $397,000 after purchasing an additional 1,891 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of First Merchants by 98.4% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,784 shares of the bank’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 885 shares in the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About First Merchants

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.