First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.07 EPS

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) issued its earnings results on Wednesday. The bank reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.07, FiscalAI reports. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 18.87%.The company had revenue of $163.53 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $201.91 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.00 EPS.

First Merchants Stock Performance

FRME traded down $0.04 during trading on Friday, hitting $39.67. The stock had a trading volume of 32,167 shares, compared to its average volume of 399,617. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $39.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.33. The firm has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.67 and a beta of 0.88. First Merchants has a one year low of $34.66 and a one year high of $43.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. First Merchants’s payout ratio is 37.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Merchants

In related news, insider Eva D. Scurlock sold 3,227 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.29, for a total value of $136,469.83. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 20,063 shares in the company, valued at $848,464.27. The trade was a 13.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Larry W. Myers sold 5,000 shares of First Merchants stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $4,543,876.50. This represents a 4.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 1.77% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Merchants

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FRME. FJ Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in First Merchants in the 3rd quarter valued at $11,111,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in First Merchants by 252.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 321,550 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,122,000 after acquiring an additional 230,192 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its holdings in First Merchants by 169.3% in the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 261,904 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,031,000 after acquiring an additional 164,664 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in First Merchants by 163.8% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 233,264 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,794,000 after acquiring an additional 144,833 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC raised its holdings in First Merchants by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 1,058,247 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,663,000 after acquiring an additional 104,260 shares in the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FRME has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on First Merchants from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded First Merchants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.33.

First Merchants Company Profile

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.