Empowered Funds LLC Grows Stock Position in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 211,132 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,050 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC owned about 0.36% of First Merchants worth $7,854,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 76.7% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 29,313 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 12,721 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in First Merchants in the 1st quarter worth about $251,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its position in First Merchants by 21.0% during the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 154,379 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,388,000 after purchasing an additional 26,772 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its holdings in First Merchants by 84.1% in the first 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 purchasing an additional 14,200 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of First Merchants by 4.3% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 51,137 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,785,000 after buying an additional 2,089 shares in the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FRME has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stephens cut shares of First Merchants from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $45.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Hovde Group began coverage on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Monday, August 12th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.60.

First Merchants Trading Up 0.1 %

FRME opened at $43.48 on Friday. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.35 and a beta of 1.01. First Merchants Co. has a 1-year low of $30.20 and a 1-year high of $45.08.

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 return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 16.94%. The company had revenue of $265.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.55 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. Analysts expect that First Merchants Co. will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. First Merchants’s payout ratio is currently 46.20%.

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.