First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Short Interest Up 23.7% in March

First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 523,500 shares, a growth of 23.7% from the February 28th total of 423,100 shares. Currently, 0.9% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 269,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FRME has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective 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. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $55.00 price target (up from $52.00) on shares of First Merchants in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James decreased their price objective on First Merchants from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Hovde Group upgraded First Merchants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Merchants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.20.

First Merchants Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of FRME stock opened at $40.11 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.74. First Merchants has a 1 year low of $30.55 and a 1 year high of $46.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market cap of $2.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.73 and a beta of 1.05.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.10. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.23% and a net margin of 18.76%. On average, research analysts predict that First Merchants will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.94%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Merchants

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in First Merchants during the third quarter worth $396,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 722,148 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,864,000 after buying an additional 5,367 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 2,420.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 78,194 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,909,000 after buying an additional 75,092 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its position in shares of First Merchants by 181.4% during the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 7,155 shares of the bank’s stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 4,612 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in First Merchants by 41.1% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 16,772 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $624,000 after buying an additional 4,888 shares in the last quarter. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.