First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.10 EPS

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The bank reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.10, Zacks reports. First Merchants had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 8.94%.

First Merchants Stock Up 2.4 %

FRME traded up $0.98 during trading on Thursday, reaching $42.24. The company had a trading volume of 41,737 shares, compared to its average volume of 204,334. The company has a market cap of $2.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.94 and a beta of 1.06. First Merchants has a 12 month low of $30.55 and a 12 month high of $46.13. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $41.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. First Merchants’s payout ratio is presently 46.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Merchants

In other First Merchants news, President Michael J. Stewart sold 7,248 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.73, for a total transaction of $316,955.04. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 92,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,052,196.72. This trade represents a 7.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FRME has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of First Merchants from $43.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler cut their target price 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.25.

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.