First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 625,200 shares, a growth of 24.6% from the June 30th total of 501,700 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 248,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Patrick J. Fehring sold 23,936 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.51, for a total transaction of $778,159.36. Following the sale, the director now owns 122,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,989,172.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Merchants

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of First Merchants by 27.6% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,524 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in First Merchants by 25.1% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,510 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $130,000 after purchasing an additional 704 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in First Merchants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. US Bancorp DE raised its position in First Merchants by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 16,405 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $608,000 after purchasing an additional 791 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in First Merchants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FRME has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com raised First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on First Merchants from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Stephens lifted their price target on First Merchants from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up previously from $43.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research note on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.00.

First Merchants Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FRME traded up $0.13 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $40.43. 102,888 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 257,252. First Merchants has a 12 month low of $25.70 and a 12 month high of $42.44. The firm has a market cap of $2.37 billion, a PE ratio of 11.61 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $34.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 17.77%. The firm had revenue of $267.72 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $156.35 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.02 EPS. Research analysts expect that First Merchants will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. This is an increase from First Merchants’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. First Merchants’s payout ratio is presently 40.35%.

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.