First Merchants
Provides Midwestern commercial, consumer, mortgage, and private wealth banking through one charter.
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Profile
Offers commercial and consumer banking, deposits, treasury management, mortgages, and private wealth services through a single bank charter across Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan. Commercial lending makes up most of the loan book, leaving results closely tied to credit quality, deposit funding, and interest rates.
Operates First Merchants Bank, a single-charter community bank offering commercial and consumer lending, deposits, treasury management, residential mortgages, and digital banking. First Merchants Private Wealth Advisors adds investment management, private banking, fiduciary, estate, and financial-planning services. The footprint spans Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan, with the recent First Savings integration extending the Indiana franchise into southern counties.
Combines local decision-making and relationship teams with branch, mobile, and online delivery, using commercial relationships to connect business owners and executives with consumer, mortgage, and wealth services. Commercial lending makes up most of the loan book. Earnings depend on credit performance, deposit funding, and interest-rate movements, while capital rules and federal and state bank supervision constrain operations.
Company facts
Categories
Key statistics
Year to date +11.8% · Average volume (30d) 407.5K
Analysts
Ratings
Target range
Latest analyst notes
| Date | Firm | Action | Prior rating | Rating | Prior target | Target |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 4, 2026 | Piper Sandler | Reiterate | Overweight | $46 | $49 | |
| Oct 27, 2025 | Piper Sandler | Reiterate | Overweight | $47 | $46 | |
| Sep 26, 2025 | Raymond James | Downgrade | Outperform | Market Perform | ||
| Jan 31, 2025 | Hovde Group | Upgrade | Market Perform | Outperform |
Earnings
EPS
Revenue
History
| Report date | EPS est | EPS | Surprise | Revenue est | Revenue | Surprise | Next session |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 22, 2026Q2 FY26 | $1.02 | $0.74 | −27.5% | $202.8M | $202.5M | −0.1% | −4.25% |
| Apr 22, 2026Q1 FY26 | $0.96 | $1.03 | +7.3% | $188.4M | $193.3M | +2.6% | −1.66% |
| Jan 26, 2026Q4 FY25 | $0.96 | $0.98 | +2.1% | $173.2M | $178.4M | +3.0% | +0.47% |
| Oct 22, 2025Q3 FY25 | $0.96 | $0.99 | +2.9% | $172.5M | $166.1M | −3.7% | −0.52% |
Financial highlights
| 12 quarters | Q1 FY25 | Q2 FY25 | Q3 FY25 | Q4 FY25 | Q1 FY26 | Q2 FY26 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $252.6M | $261.0M | $267.6M | $269.8M | $253.3M | $298.0M | |
| Gross profit | $156.1M | $158.7M | $161.8M | $164.2M | $151.1M | $163.1M | |
| Operating income | $63.2M | $65.1M | $65.3M | $65.5M | $27.1M | $48.4M | |
| Net income | $55.3M | $56.8M | $56.8M | $57.1M | $28.2M | $44.0M | |
| Diluted EPS | $0.94 | $0.98 | $0.98 | $0.99 | $0.46 | $0.70 | |
| Gross margin | 61.8% | 60.8% | 60.5% | 60.9% | 59.7% | 54.7% | |
| Operating margin | 25.0% | 24.9% | 24.4% | 24.3% | 10.7% | 16.3% |
Fiscal years (4-quarter sums)FY21 $556.0M · FY22 $712.9M · FY23 $999.5M · FY24 $1.05B · FY25 $1.05B
Revenue by product · Q2 FY26
Balance sheet, Jun 30, 2026Cash & short-term investments $3.91B · Total debt $1.60B · Total assets $21.35B · Shareholders' equity $2.70B
Dividends
Raised for 15 straight years — most recently to $0.37 from $0.36 in Jun 2026. To collect a payout, hold shares through the close before the ex-date.
History
| Ex-date | Record | Paid | Amount | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 5, 2026 | Jun 5 | Jun 19 | $0.37 | raised from $0.36 |
| Mar 6, 2026 | Mar 6 | Mar 20 | $0.36 | |
| Dec 5, 2025 | Dec 5 | Dec 19 | $0.36 | |
| Sep 5, 2025 | Sep 5 | Sep 19 | $0.36 | |
| Jun 6, 2025 | Jun 6 | Jun 20 | $0.36 | raised from $0.35 |
| Mar 7, 2025 | Mar 7 | Mar 21 | $0.35 | |
| Dec 6, 2024 | Dec 6 | Dec 20 | $0.35 | |
| Sep 6, 2024 | Sep 6 | Sep 20 | $0.35 |
Ownership
Shares outstanding 62.80M · Float 61.65M · 98.2% free float
Top shareholders13F · 13D/G · Form 4
| Holder | Shares | % outstanding | Form | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BlackRock, Inc. | 5.32M | 8.48% | 13F | Aug 7, 2026 |
| Dimensional Fund Advisors LP | 3.69M | 5.88% | 13F | Aug 11, 2026 |
| Vanguard Portfolio Management LLC | 3.40M | 5.42% | 13F | Aug 13, 2026 |
| Vanguard Capital Management LLC | 2.72M | 4.33% | 13F | Aug 13, 2026 |
| State Street Corp | 2.55M | 4.06% | 13F | Aug 7, 2026 |
Insider tradesForm 4
| Date | Insider | Role | Shares | Avg price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 19, 2026 | Stephan Fluhler | officer, other: Chief Information Officer | −4,080 | $43.20 |
| Jun 12, 2026 | Larry W. Myers | director | −10,000 | $42.00 |
| Jun 11, 2026 | Larry W. Myers | director | −10,000 | $41.50 |
| May 5, 2026 | Larry W. Myers | director, officer: First Vice President | −0 | $40.54 |
| Feb 26, 2026 | Larry W. Myers | director, officer: First Vice President | −5,000 | $41.50 |
Peers
- Huntington Bancshares
Ohio-centered super-regional pressure across banking and wealth
- Fifth Third
Large Cincinnati-based rival in Midwest banking and wealth
- Old National Bancorp
Broad Midwest regional overlap in commercial, consumer, and wealth banking
- First Financial Bancorp
Close Ohio-Indiana regional peer in relationship banking
- Lakeland Financial
Indiana community-bank peer for commercial clients and deposits
- Horizon Bancorp
Indiana-Michigan community-bank rival with similar local model
- Independent Bank
Michigan community-bank overlap in lending, deposits, and mortgage
- Mercantile Bank
Michigan-focused commercial bank rival after footprint expansion
CompareAfter-hours close
| Company | Price | Change | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Merchants | $41.93 | −0.02% | $2.63B | 13.4 | 9.9 | 2.4 | +23.2% |
| Huntington Bancshares | $16.95 | +0.18% | $34.19B | 12.6 | 9.8 | 2.4 | +47.4% |
| Fifth Third | $54.60 | +0.14% | $49.43B | 18.6 | 11.9 | 3.3 | +45.2% |
| Old National Bancorp | $25.85 | +0.02% | $9.89B | 11.4 | 9.5 | 2.5 | +12.3% |
| First Financial Bancorp | $32.84 | +0.09% | $3.44B | 11.6 | 10.2 | 2.6 | +16.7% |
| Lakeland Financial | $59.61 | +0.08% | $1.49B | 13.7 | 13.5 | 3.5 | +6.8% |
| Horizon Bancorp | $19.56 | +0.05% | $1.00B | — | 9.1 | 10.5 | +16.1% |
| Independent Bank | $36.86 | −0.03% | $759.5M | 10.7 | 9.8 | 2.4 | +17.0% |
| Mercantile Bank | $60.21 | −0.05% | $1.04B | 10.6 | 10.9 | 2.7 | +12.8% |
| Median | 11.6 | 10.0 | 2.6 | +16.4% |