First Merchants price target lowered to $47 from $50 at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler lowered the firm’s price target on First Merchants (FRME) to $47 from $50 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. The firm remains bullish on the name given its solid 2025 operating leverage outlook via a restoration of mid-single digit organic loan growth that should help keep its net interest margin relatively stable as well as continued strong cost controls following recent proactive re-allocations that should help drive both market share and efficiency gains.