Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) Downgraded to “Strong Sell” Rating by Zacks Research

Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) was downgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

MRBK has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $22.00 target price (up from $20.00) on shares of Meridian Bank in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Meridian Bank from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 18th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Meridian Bank in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Meridian Bank from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.50.

Meridian Bank Trading Up 2.4%

MRBK opened at $18.82 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Meridian Bank has a fifty-two week low of $11.16 and a fifty-two week high of $21.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $223.58 million, a PE ratio of 9.09 and a beta of 0.75. The company’s 50-day moving average is $19.41 and its 200 day moving average is $17.80.

Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.09). Meridian Bank had a return on equity of 12.81% and a net margin of 11.68%.The business had revenue of $30.24 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.79 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Meridian Bank will post 2.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meridian Bank

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fourthstone LLC grew its position in Meridian Bank by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 1,121,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,721,000 after purchasing an additional 49,561 shares in the last quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. grew its position in Meridian Bank by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 437,696 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,695,000 after purchasing an additional 5,100 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Meridian Bank by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 395,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,949,000 after purchasing an additional 33,357 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Meridian Bank by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 213,117 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,747,000 after purchasing an additional 1,232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Meridian Bank by 99.3% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 171,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,712,000 after acquiring an additional 85,562 shares during the period. 58.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meridian Bank Company Profile

Meridian Bank, a Pennsylvania-chartered institution founded in 1993 and headquartered in Philadelphia, operates as a full-service community bank serving the Greater Philadelphia region. As a wholly owned subsidiary of Meridian Bancorp, Inc (NASDAQ: MRBK), the bank maintains a network of branch locations complemented by online and mobile platforms to meet the evolving needs of individual and business customers.

On the consumer side, Meridian Bank offers a comprehensive suite of deposit products, including checking accounts, savings accounts and certificates of deposit, alongside personal lending solutions such as home equity lines of credit, residential mortgage loans and unsecured consumer loans.