First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 716,900 shares, a growth of 14.7% from the July 15th total of 625,200 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 252,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on FRME. Stephens lowered First Merchants from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $38.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up from $43.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research 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 company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Hovde Group assumed coverage on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Merchants currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.20.

Insider Transactions at First Merchants

In related news, Director Patrick J. Fehring sold 23,936 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.51, for a total transaction of $778,159.36. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 122,706 shares in the company, valued at $3,989,172.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of First Merchants

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FRME. rhino investment partners Inc bought a new position in shares of First Merchants during the fourth quarter worth about $8,572,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 84.1% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 31,082 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,024,000 after acquiring an additional 14,200 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in First Merchants by 28.6% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 97,357 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,610,000 after purchasing an additional 21,632 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its position in First Merchants by 21.0% in the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 154,379 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,388,000 after acquiring an additional 26,772 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 40.7% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 184,862 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,452,000 after acquiring an additional 53,463 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of First Merchants stock traded up $0.46 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $36.76. 158,432 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 255,089. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.59 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 has a 52-week low of $25.70 and a 52-week high of $42.44. The company has a fifty day moving average of $35.18 and a 200-day moving average of $34.33.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its 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 firm 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 period last year, the business posted $1.02 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that First Merchants will post 3.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.