First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.06 EPS

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The bank reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.06, FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of $205.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $203.94 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 8.86% and a net margin of 17.05%.

First Merchants Stock Performance

Shares of FRME traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $39.96. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 377,837 shares, compared to its average volume of 414,645. First Merchants has a 1-year low of $34.66 and a 1-year high of $45.33. The stock has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.81 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th were paid a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 4th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on FRME shares. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on First Merchants from $51.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Stephens upgraded First Merchants to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Raymond James Financial raised First Merchants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded First Merchants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.00.

About First Merchants

First Merchants Corporation is a financial services holding company headquartered in Muncie, Indiana. Through its principal subsidiary, First Merchants Bank, the company provides banking and related financial services to individuals, families, businesses and institutions.

First Merchants Bank offers deposit accounts, consumer and commercial lending, mortgage services, treasury and cash-management solutions, online and mobile banking, investment management and trust services. The company also provides wealth-management and insurance-related services through affiliated operations.

Founded in 1893, First Merchants has expanded through organic growth and acquisitions and serves customers across Indiana, Ohio and Michigan.