Raymond James Cuts First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Price Target to $46.00

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) had its price target cut by Raymond James from $50.00 to $46.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the bank’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Hovde Group upgraded First Merchants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 price target (up from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.20.

First Merchants Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of FRME stock opened at $40.11 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.73 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.74. First Merchants has a twelve month low of $30.55 and a twelve month high of $46.13.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.10. First Merchants had a net margin of 18.76% and a return on equity of 9.23%. As a group, research analysts predict that First Merchants will post 3.79 EPS for the current year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. First Merchants’s payout ratio is presently 40.94%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FRME. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in First Merchants by 67.9% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 134,136 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,368,000 after buying an additional 54,265 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its stake in First Merchants by 123.8% in the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 24,174 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $899,000 after acquiring an additional 13,370 shares during the period. Sentinel Pension Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in First Merchants in the fourth quarter worth about $607,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in First Merchants by 55.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 930,896 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $37,133,000 after purchasing an additional 332,168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in First Merchants by 27.9% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,052 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 665 shares in the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.