Short Interest in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Grows By 18.3%

First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 619,500 shares, an increase of 18.3% from the March 15th total of 523,500 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 284,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days. Currently, 1.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

First Merchants Price Performance

Shares of FRME traded down $0.61 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $34.92. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 199,639 shares, compared to its average volume of 262,941. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $40.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.60. First Merchants has a fifty-two week low of $30.55 and a fifty-two week high of $46.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.21 and a beta of 0.95.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.10. First Merchants had a net margin of 18.76% and a return on equity of 9.23%. On average, research analysts predict that First Merchants will post 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.01%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.94%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FRME. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in First Merchants by 89.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 112,290 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,176,000 after purchasing an additional 53,033 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in First Merchants by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,400,821 shares of the bank’s stock worth $52,120,000 after acquiring an additional 11,430 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in First Merchants by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 886,088 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,962,000 after acquiring an additional 11,521 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in First Merchants by 67.9% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 134,136 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,368,000 after acquiring an additional 54,265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, City Center Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Merchants in the 4th quarter valued at about $219,000. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $55.00 price objective (up previously from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Hovde Group raised First Merchants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Merchants currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.20.

First Merchants Company Profile

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.