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

First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 716,900 shares, an increase of 14.7% from the July 15th total of 625,200 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 252,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on FRME. Hovde Group started coverage on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of First Merchants from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up previously from $43.00) on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Stephens lowered First Merchants from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $38.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Merchants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.20.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Patrick J. Fehring sold 23,936 shares of First Merchants stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.51, for a total transaction of $778,159.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 122,706 shares in the company, valued at $3,989,172.06. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Merchants

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its stake in First Merchants by 4,586.1% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 700,711 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,982,000 after purchasing an additional 685,758 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp boosted its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 457.3% during the 2nd quarter. First Merchants Corp now owns 581,863 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $19,370,000 after acquiring an additional 477,462 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of First Merchants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $14,400,000. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in First Merchants during the 2nd quarter valued at $8,218,000. Finally, rhino investment partners Inc purchased a new stake in First Merchants during the fourth quarter valued at $8,572,000. Institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

First Merchants Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ FRME traded up $0.46 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $36.76. The company had a trading volume of 158,432 shares, compared to its average volume of 255,089. The stock has a market cap of $2.15 billion, a PE ratio of 10.59 and a beta of 1.04. First Merchants has a one year low of $25.70 and a one year high of $42.44. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $35.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $156.35 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.02 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that First Merchants will post 3.29 earnings per share for the current year.

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.