Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Stock

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) had its price objective lifted by stock analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $43.00 to $50.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the bank’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 15.47% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on FRME. Hovde Group began coverage on First Merchants in a research report on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $38.00 price target on the stock. Stephens lowered shares of First Merchants from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $38.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.60.

First Merchants Price Performance

Shares of First Merchants stock opened at $43.30 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.29 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.05. First Merchants has a twelve month low of $30.55 and a twelve month high of $46.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.06). First Merchants had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 8.94%. The company had revenue of $265.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.55 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that First Merchants will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FRME. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in First Merchants by 108.3% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 750 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of First Merchants during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Merchants in the second quarter valued at approximately $45,000. CWM LLC raised its position in First Merchants by 511.5% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,920 shares of the bank’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 1,606 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in First Merchants by 78.9% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,893 shares of the bank’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 835 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

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.