Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Reaffirms “Outperform” Rating for First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME)

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued their outperform rating on shares of First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a $45.00 target price on the bank’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on FRME. Hovde Group started coverage on First Merchants in a research note on Monday, August 12th. They issued a market perform rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Stephens cut First Merchants from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on First Merchants from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, StockNews.com raised First Merchants from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $42.20.

First Merchants Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FRME opened at $39.00 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $36.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.24 and a beta of 1.04. First Merchants has a 1 year low of $25.70 and a 1 year high of $42.44.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.10). First Merchants had a net margin of 17.77% and a return on equity of 9.20%. The firm had revenue of $267.72 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $156.35 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.02 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that First Merchants will post 3.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 5th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.59%. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.35%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Merchants

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of FRME. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in First Merchants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new stake in First Merchants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in First Merchants during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp bought a new position in First Merchants in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in First Merchants in the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.