Phocas Financial Corp. Has $8.94 Million Position in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Phocas Financial Corp. decreased its position in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 240,230 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 14,817 shares during the quarter. Phocas Financial Corp.’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $8,937,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FRME. Waterfront Wealth Inc. lifted its position in First Merchants by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 26,433 shares of the bank’s stock worth $880,000 after buying an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of First Merchants by 3.2% in the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 10,614 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $353,000 after buying an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in First Merchants by 12.0% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,616 shares of the bank’s stock worth $135,000 after buying an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in First Merchants by 7.9% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 7,074 shares of the bank’s stock worth $233,000 after acquiring an additional 519 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in First Merchants by 78.9% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,893 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 835 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FRME opened at $43.31 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.29 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.26. First Merchants Co. has a 1 year low of $30.20 and a 1 year high of $45.08.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $265.95 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.55 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 16.94%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.94 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that First Merchants Co. will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Hovde Group assumed coverage on shares of First Merchants in a report on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Stephens lowered First Merchants from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $38.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.60.

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.