First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Sets New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)’s stock price reached 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 traded. The stock had previously closed at $37.49.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

First Merchants Price Performance

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

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 8.94%. The company had revenue of $265.95 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.55 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that First Merchants Co. will post 3.34 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Merchants

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FRME. Waterfront Wealth Inc. grew its holdings in First Merchants by 1.1% during the second quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 26,433 shares of the bank’s stock worth $880,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 10,614 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of First Merchants by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,616 shares of the bank’s stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in shares of First Merchants by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 7,074 shares of the bank’s stock worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of First Merchants by 78.9% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,893 shares of the bank’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 835 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

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.