Summit Global Investments Acquires New Position in First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME)

Summit Global Investments acquired a new stake in shares of First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 20,332 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $811,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FRME. Natixis Advisors LLC bought a new stake in First Merchants during the 3rd quarter valued at about $374,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 40,838 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,519,000 after purchasing an additional 2,981 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 24,867 shares of the bank’s stock worth $925,000 after purchasing an additional 1,010 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Merchants in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $396,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 722,148 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,864,000 after purchasing an additional 5,367 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Trading Down 1.5 %

NASDAQ:FRME opened at $40.24 on Monday. First Merchants Co. has a 52 week low of $30.55 and a 52 week high of $46.13. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $42.11 and a 200 day moving average of $40.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.77 and a beta of 1.05.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.10. First Merchants had a net margin of 18.76% and a return on equity of 9.23%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that First Merchants Co. will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. First Merchants’s payout ratio is 40.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FRME has been the subject of several research reports. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of First Merchants from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Hovde Group raised shares of First Merchants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 price target (up previously from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four 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 $49.00.

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.