UPDATE: J.P. Morgan Maintains Overweight Rating, Raises PT for FirstMerit

In a report released earlier today, J.P. Morgan & Co. maintained its Overweight rating for FirstMerit Corporation

and slightly raised its price target from $18.50 to $19.50. J.P. Morgan said in their report “Although the operating environment is a challenge for all banks, one of the key points of differentiation at FMER remains that that while many bank management teams are in some type of holding pattern, waiting for a better operating environment to come their way, under the leadership of Paul Greig, FMER is evolving into one of the hardest working management teams in the business seeking improved shareholder returns through one of the worst periods for industry profitability in decades.” FirstMerit Corporation closed at $16.46 yesterday.