Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 36,184 Shares of Merchants Bancorp $MBIN

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,414,584 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,184 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc.’s holdings in Merchants Bancorp were worth $48,181,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merchants Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new position in shares of Merchants Bancorp during the third quarter valued at about $57,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 110.0% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 1,153 shares in the last quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 16.7% during the second quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 6,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,000 after acquiring an additional 984 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,846 shares of the company’s stock valued at $267,000 after acquiring an additional 865 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MBIN. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Merchants Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Merchants Bancorp from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Merchants Bancorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.50.

Merchants Bancorp Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of MBIN stock opened at $44.37 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.04 billion, a PE ratio of 10.82 and a beta of 1.16. Merchants Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $28.75 and a fifty-two week high of $50.26.

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.09. Merchants Bancorp had a net margin of 16.64% and a return on equity of 13.40%. The business had revenue of $175.25 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $174.30 million. Equities analysts expect that Merchants Bancorp will post 5.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Merchants Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Merchants Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Merchants Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.73%.

Merchants Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 6.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Merchants Bancorp Company Profile

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ: MBIN) is the bank holding company for Merchants Bank, a regional financial institution headquartered in Buffalo, New York. Through its network of branches and digital platforms, the company offers a range of banking services across western and central New York. Merchants Bancorp operates as a full‐service commercial bank, serving small and medium-sized businesses, professionals, families and individuals in its core markets.

The company’s primary activities include deposit taking, commercial and consumer lending, mortgage origination, and treasury management services.