Quest Partners LLC Raises Stake in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 2,517.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 35,355 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 34,004 shares during the quarter. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in First Merchants were worth $1,315,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 84.1% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 31,082 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,024,000 after buying an additional 14,200 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 886,088 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,962,000 after purchasing an additional 11,521 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in First Merchants by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 211,132 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,854,000 after purchasing an additional 12,050 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of First Merchants by 10.6% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 17,072 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $635,000 after buying an additional 1,637 shares during the period. Finally, First Merchants Corp lifted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 457.3% in the second quarter. First Merchants Corp now owns 581,863 shares of the bank’s stock worth $19,370,000 after buying an additional 477,462 shares in the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Merchants Stock Down 1.0 %

FRME opened at $42.86 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $38.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. First Merchants Co. has a 12 month low of $30.20 and a 12 month high of $45.08. The company has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.15 and a beta of 1.01.

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

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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