First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $42.72 and last traded at $42.45, with a volume of 76474 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $37.49.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on FRME. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of First Merchants in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Stephens lowered shares of First Merchants from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Hovde Group initiated coverage on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Monday, August 12th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on First Merchants from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.60.

First Merchants Trading Up 15.8 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The business has a 50-day moving average of $37.27 and a 200-day moving average of $35.79. The stock has a market cap of $2.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.33 and a beta of 1.01.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.06). First Merchants had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 16.94%. The business had revenue of $265.95 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.55 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that First Merchants Co. will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. First Merchants’s payout ratio is 46.20%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Merchants Corp increased its stake in shares of First Merchants by 457.3% in the second quarter. First Merchants Corp now owns 581,863 shares of the bank’s stock worth $19,370,000 after purchasing an additional 477,462 shares during the period. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of First Merchants in the second quarter worth $8,218,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in First Merchants by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,475,053 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $115,682,000 after purchasing an additional 180,323 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in First Merchants by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,694,006 shares of the bank’s stock worth $89,683,000 after purchasing an additional 75,677 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC increased its stake in First Merchants by 39.5% during the second quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 204,177 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,797,000 after acquiring an additional 57,800 shares during the period. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.