First Merchants

FRME

First Merchants Corporation (Nasdaq: FRME) is the largest financial holding company based in Central Indiana, headquartered in Muncie, Indiana. The Corporation has one full-service bank charter, First Merchants Bank. The Bank also operates as First Merchants Private Wealth Advisors (as a division of First Merchants Bank). First Merchants Corporation's common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market System under the symbol FRME. As of July 2020, total asset size of First Merchants Corporation was $13.8 billion.First Merchants offers customers broad financial services throughout locations in Indiana, Ohio, Illinois and Michigan providing: Commercial Banking (business) – checking, treasury management, card services, financing, loans, electronic banking, online and mobile banking. Personal Banking (consumer) – checking, savings, CDs, mortgages, loans, IRAs, HSAs, online and mobile banking. Private Wealth Advisors - trusts, investments, 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans, profit sharing plans, pension plans, cross-tested plans, cash balance plans, Flexible Spending Accounts, IRAs, SEP IRAs, and succession planning.In January 2019 First Merchants Bank was ranked #2 on the “America's Best Bank list compiled by Forbes, up from their #4 ranking in 2018.First Merchants Bank was listed as one of the “Best Places to Work in Indiana” by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce in 2018 for Major Companies with 1,000+ employees and again in 2019. First Merchants Bank was also named as one of the “Best Places to Work” by Columbus Business First for 2018 and as one of the 2019 Best Employers in Ohio, a list created by the Ohio SHRM State Council, Crain's Cleveland Business and Best Companies Group. First Merchants was also named one of the “Best Places to Work” in the state of Illinois in 2018 and again in 2019.

First Merchants has been a target of short sellers for a while. The current short interest of 2.95% is roughly at the average of the last 12 months (2.02%).