# First Merchants Corporation Depository Shares (FRMEP) fundamentals

Data as of 2026-09-08. NASDAQ, United States. Sector: Financial Services / Banks. Price $25.00, market value $1.4 billion.

## Valuation
- **P/E (trailing): 6.6×** (5-yr avg 5.8×, 3-yr avg 6.2×). First Merchants Corporation Depository Shares trades at 6.6× trailing earnings, close to its own five-year average of 5.8×. The Financial Services median in the September 2026 study was 13.1×.
- **Price / book: 0.6×**. The shares trade below book value, which can signal a bargain or a balance sheet the market doubts.
- **Earnings yield: 15.2%**. The inverse of the P/E: 15.2% of the price is earned each year.

## Profitability
- **Return on equity: 9.2%**. 9.2% on shareholders' equity is weak; the business earns little on the capital its owners have in it.

## Growth
- **EPS growth (1 yr): 13.8%** (3-yr 0.6%/yr, 5-yr 7.2%/yr). Earnings per share rose 13.8%.

## Dividends
- **Dividend yield: 7.50%** ($1.45 per share, trailing). First Merchants Corporation Depository Shares yields 7.50%, high enough to check carefully: yields this high often precede a cut.
- **Payout ratio: 37%**. 37% of earnings goes out as dividends, leaving room to keep raising it.
- **Consecutive years of increases: 6**. 6 straight years of increases.
- **Dividend growth (5 yr): 31.4%/yr** (1-yr 0.0%). The dividend has compounded at 31.4% a year over five years, doubling roughly every 2 years at that pace.

## Price and momentum
- **Total return (1 yr): 2.2%** (YTD 0.7%, 3-mo -0.2%). The shares are up 2.2% over twelve months including dividends.
- **From 52-week high: -7.7%** (1.1% above the low). Trading 8% below its 52-week high.
- **200-day average: below**. The price sits below its 200-day moving average, the usual definition of a downtrend.
- **RSI (14-day): 41**. An RSI of 41 is neutral.
- **Beta (1 yr): -0.02** (volatility 12%). Beta of -0.02 against the S&P 500: the shares move much less than the market.

Live score and charts: https://foliofundamentals.com/analyzer?s=FRMEP · Page: https://foliofundamentals.com/stocks/frmep

Not investment advice.