DA Davidson upgraded shares of FirstMerit Corp. (NASDAQ:FMER) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Wednesday morning, TheFlyOnTheWall.com reports. They currently have $28.00 target price on the stock.
“While this was admittedly a messy quarter following the acquisition of Citizens, core results were solid driven by very strong core loan growth and improved credit. Company guidance included a loan pipeline that is the strongest in the history of the bank and annual cost savings from the acquisition that are now likely to be above $59 million. FMER reported 2Q EPS of $0.29, $0.04 below our estimate and $0.02 below the consensus estimate. Results included one-time merger related costs of approximately $0.13 per share. Favorable variances from our forecast included better than expected net interest income, driven by larger than expected accretion on acquired loans, and lower provision for loan loss. This was offset to some degree by a higher effective tax rate vs. our forecast. We put core EPS at an exceptionally strong $0.42.,” the firm’s analyst wrote.
Shares of FirstMerit Corp. (NASDAQ: FMER) traded down 0.49% during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $22.43. FirstMerit Corp. has a one year low of $12.95 and a one year high of $23.25. The stock’s 50-day moving average is currently $20.33. The company has a market cap of $3.718 billion and a P/E ratio of 17.75.
Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Analysts at UBS AG raised their price target on shares of FirstMerit Corp. from $22.00 to $23.00 in a research note to investors on Thursday, July 11th. They now have a buy rating on the stock. Separately, analysts at Sandler O’Neill downgraded shares of FirstMerit Corp. from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note to investors on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, analysts at Barclays Capital raised their price target on shares of FirstMerit Corp. from $18.00 to $22.00 in a research note to investors on Monday, June 24th. They now have an overweight rating on the stock.
Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The stock has an average rating of Buy and an average price target of $21.89.
FirstMerit Corporation (NASDAQ: FMER) is a bank holding company.
