First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.06 EPS

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The bank reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.06), RTT News reports. First Merchants had a net margin of 17.77% and a return on equity of 9.17%. The firm had revenue of $265.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.55 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share.

First Merchants Stock Performance

Shares of FRME stock opened at $35.75 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.50. First Merchants has a 12 month low of $25.74 and a 12 month high of $42.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, a PE ratio of 10.30 and a beta of 1.02.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on FRME. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Stephens cut shares of First Merchants from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $45.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Hovde Group initiated coverage on First Merchants in a research report on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on First Merchants from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, First Merchants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.20.

First Merchants Company Profile

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.