Hovde Group Begins Coverage on First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME)

Hovde Group assumed coverage on shares of First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) in a report published on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a market perform rating and a $38.00 price target on the bank’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of First Merchants from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an outperform rating and set a $45.00 price target (up previously from $43.00) on shares of First Merchants in a report on Monday, July 29th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Stephens downgraded First Merchants from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and cut their target price for the company from $45.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $42.20.

First Merchants Stock Performance

Shares of First Merchants stock opened at $35.50 on Monday. First Merchants has a 12 month low of $25.70 and a 12 month high of $42.44. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.23 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $267.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $156.35 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 17.77%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.02 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that First Merchants will post 3.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Patrick J. Fehring sold 23,936 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.51, for a total transaction of $778,159.36. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 122,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,989,172.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Merchants

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in First Merchants by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,571,539 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $243,673,000 after buying an additional 32,126 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of First Merchants by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,475,053 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $115,682,000 after acquiring an additional 180,323 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of First Merchants by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 978,469 shares of the bank’s stock worth $36,282,000 after purchasing an additional 89,816 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in First Merchants by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 853,075 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,632,000 after purchasing an additional 11,842 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its position in First Merchants by 4,586.1% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 700,711 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,982,000 after purchasing an additional 685,758 shares in the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is currently 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.