Bailard Inc. Acquires Shares of 20,000 First Merchants Corporation $FRME

Bailard Inc. purchased a new position in First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 20,000 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $754,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in First Merchants by 361.7% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 771 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the period. Caldwell Trust Co bought a new position in First Merchants in the second quarter valued at $50,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of First Merchants by 98.4% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,784 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 885 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new position in shares of First Merchants during the third quarter worth approximately $92,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new position in First Merchants in the 2nd quarter worth $203,000. 73.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Merchants Trading Down 3.9%

FRME stock opened at $38.09 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.52 and a beta of 0.93. First Merchants Corporation has a twelve month low of $33.13 and a twelve month high of $45.62. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.39.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.03. First Merchants had a net margin of 22.04% and a return on equity of 9.82%. The company had revenue of $172.35 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $172.78 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.84 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on FRME shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of First Merchants from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of First Merchants in a report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered shares of First Merchants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.60.

First Merchants Profile

First Merchants Corporation, through its subsidiary First Merchants Bank, offers a comprehensive suite of banking and financial services to individuals, businesses and public sector clients. The company’s core business activities include retail and commercial banking, lending, treasury and cash management, and wealth advisory services. With a focus on relationship banking, First Merchants seeks to deliver tailored solutions for deposit accounts, loan financing and other credit products.

On the consumer side, First Merchants provides checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, personal and mortgage loans, and electronic banking conveniences.