First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $48.3333.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on FRME shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of First Merchants from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of First Merchants from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th.

Insider Transactions at First Merchants

In other First Merchants news, VP Larry W. Myers sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.50, for a total value of $207,500.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 109,491 shares in the company, valued at $4,543,876.50. This represents a 4.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.77% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Merchants

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FRME. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 361.7% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 771 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 325.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 796 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 609 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 62.1% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 987 shares of the bank’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 68.9% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,042 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Price Performance

Shares of FRME opened at $39.10 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.50 and a beta of 0.86. First Merchants has a twelve month low of $34.66 and a twelve month high of $43.22. The company has a 50 day moving average of $39.17 and a 200-day moving average of $38.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $163.53 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $201.91 million. First Merchants had a net margin of 18.87% and a return on equity of 9.58%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.00 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that First Merchants will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About First Merchants

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.