EJF Capital LLC Has $1.12 Million Stock Position in First Merchants Corporation $FRME

EJF Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) by 149.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 29,697 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,813 shares during the period. EJF Capital LLC owned about 0.05% of First Merchants worth $1,120,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,005,625 shares of the bank’s stock worth $76,815,000 after buying an additional 6,924 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of First Merchants by 2.5% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,127,423 shares of the bank’s stock worth $43,180,000 after acquiring an additional 27,965 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its stake in shares of First Merchants by 2.0% in the second quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 760,551 shares of the bank’s stock worth $29,129,000 after acquiring an additional 15,143 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in First Merchants by 2.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 691,565 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,072,000 after acquiring an additional 13,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its position in First Merchants by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 397,123 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $15,210,000 after purchasing an additional 28,068 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Eva D. Scurlock sold 3,227 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.29, for a total value of $136,469.83. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 20,063 shares in the company, valued at $848,464.27. This trade represents a 13.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Larry W. Myers sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.50, for a total transaction of $207,500.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 109,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,543,876.50. This trade represents a 4.37% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FRME has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research cut shares of First Merchants from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on First Merchants from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.75.

First Merchants Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FRME opened at $39.08 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.05 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $39.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. First Merchants Corporation has a 1-year low of $33.13 and a 1-year high of $44.33.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The bank reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.68% and a net margin of 21.49%.The company had revenue of $178.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.89 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that First Merchants Corporation 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 will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.02%.

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.