Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $48.50 and last traded at $47.8650, with a volume of 28612 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.63.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MBIN has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Merchants Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Zacks Research upgraded Merchants Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. UBS Group set a $42.00 target price on Merchants Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Merchants Bancorp from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $38.00 price objective (down from $40.00) on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.00.

Merchants Bancorp Stock Performance

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.95. The firm has a market cap of $2.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.47 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73.

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $193.49 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $170.80 million. Merchants Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.35% and a net margin of 16.02%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Merchants Bancorp will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Merchants Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Merchants Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.58%.

Merchants Bancorp announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 6.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Martin A. Schroeter sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.06, for a total value of $253,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 10,881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $501,178.86. This trade represents a 33.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 34.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Merchants Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ballast Asset Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 80.3% during the third quarter. Ballast Asset Management LP now owns 137,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,385,000 after purchasing an additional 61,418 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Merchants Bancorp by 10.7% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 567,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,783,000 after buying an additional 55,038 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Merchants Bancorp during the third quarter valued at $879,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Merchants Bancorp by 17.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 681,486 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,539,000 after acquiring an additional 101,139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd grew its stake in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 341.4% in the second quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 27,678 shares of the company’s stock worth $915,000 after acquiring an additional 21,407 shares during the last quarter. 24.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Merchants Bancorp

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.