When putting together your watch list, look for stocks with an 80 or higher RS Rating. First Merchants just cleared that benchmark with an upgrade from 62 to 83.
This exclusive rating from Investor's Business Daily tracks market leadership with a 1 (worst) to 99 (best) score. The rating shows how a stock's price performance over the last 52 weeks stacks up against all the other stocks in our database.
History reveals that the market's biggest winners tend to have an RS Rating north of 80 in the early stages of their moves.
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First Merchants is still within a buy range after clearing a 42.45 entry in a consolidation. Once a stock moves 5% or higher beyond the original entry, it's considered extended and out of buy range.
The company reported -1% EPS growth in the latest quarterly report. Sales rose -3%.
First Merchants holds the No. 40 rank among its peers in the Banks-Midwest industry group. First Internet Bancorp, Nicolet Bankshares and ChoiceOne Financial Svcs are among the top 5 highly rated stocks within the group.
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