First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The bank reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.06), RTT News reports. First Merchants had a net margin of 17.77% and a return on equity of 9.17%. The company had revenue of $265.95 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.55 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS.

First Merchants Trading Down 0.7 %

FRME opened at $35.75 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.42 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $37.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. First Merchants has a 1-year low of $25.74 and a 1-year high of $42.44.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. First Merchants’s payout ratio is 44.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on FRME shares. Hovde Group initiated coverage on First Merchants in a report on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Stephens cut shares of First Merchants from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of First Merchants from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of First Merchants in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Merchants currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.20.

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.