Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) Price Target Raised to $22.00

Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) had its price objective raised by DA Davidson from $21.00 to $22.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. DA Davidson currently has a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on MRBK. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $22.00 target price (up from $20.00) on shares of Meridian Bank in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Meridian Bank in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $22.00.

Meridian Bank Stock Up 1.6%

MRBK stock opened at $20.71 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $17.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.04. Meridian Bank has a 52 week low of $11.16 and a 52 week high of $21.02. The company has a market cap of $238.58 million, a P/E ratio of 10.96 and a beta of 0.80.

Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $34.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $32.41 million. Meridian Bank had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 12.14%. On average, research analysts expect that Meridian Bank will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meridian Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th will be given a $0.14 dividend. This is an increase from Meridian Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 9th. Meridian Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.46%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRBK. Fourthstone LLC lifted its holdings in Meridian Bank by 40.4% in the 2nd quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 1,084,319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,977,000 after purchasing an additional 311,870 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Meridian Bank by 9.4% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 361,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,715,000 after buying an additional 31,162 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meridian Bank by 110.9% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 212,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,745,000 after buying an additional 111,939 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in Meridian Bank by 99.3% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 171,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,712,000 after acquiring an additional 85,562 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Meridian Bank by 16.1% in the 2nd quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC now owns 139,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,801,000 after acquiring an additional 19,346 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.56% of the company’s stock.

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.