Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stake in First Merchants Corporation $FRME

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME) by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 710,508 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 47,630 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 1.23% of First Merchants worth $26,786,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Waterfront Wealth Inc. raised its stake in First Merchants by 1.0% during the second quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 27,412 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,050,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the period. EJF Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Merchants by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. EJF Capital LLC now owns 11,884 shares of the bank’s stock worth $455,000 after buying an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of First Merchants by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 54,058 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,070,000 after buying an additional 417 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 0.3% in the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 135,789 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,227,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in First Merchants by 0.8% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 64,350 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,465,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on FRME. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of First Merchants in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of First Merchants from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Zacks Research lowered shares of First Merchants from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of First Merchants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.75.

First Merchants Stock Performance

Shares of First Merchants stock opened at $42.34 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.88 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The business has a 50-day moving average of $38.50 and a 200 day moving average of $38.33. First Merchants Corporation has a 12 month low of $33.13 and a 12 month high of $45.62.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $178.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $172.89 million. First Merchants had a net margin of 21.49% and a return on equity of 9.68%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that First Merchants Corporation will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

First Merchants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th were given a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. First Merchants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.02%.

First Merchants Company 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.