Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on MRBK. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $22.00 price target (up from $20.00) on shares of Meridian Bank in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Meridian Bank from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Meridian Bank in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Meridian Bank has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $22.00.

Meridian Bank Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of Meridian Bank stock opened at $18.72 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $19.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Meridian Bank has a twelve month low of $11.16 and a twelve month high of $21.67. The stock has a market cap of $222.39 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.90 and a beta of 0.76.

Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.06. Meridian Bank had a return on equity of 11.81% and a net margin of 10.63%.The company had revenue of $34.44 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $32.41 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Meridian Bank will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meridian Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. This is a boost from Meridian Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. Meridian Bank’s payout ratio is presently 29.63%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRBK. Key Financial Inc acquired a new stake in Meridian Bank during the third quarter valued at approximately $917,000. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meridian Bank in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $946,000. Fourthstone LLC grew its position in shares of Meridian Bank by 40.4% in the 2nd quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 1,084,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,977,000 after acquiring an additional 311,870 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meridian Bank in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,996,000. Finally, Meridian Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Meridian Bank by 16.1% during the 2nd quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC now owns 139,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,801,000 after acquiring an additional 19,346 shares in the last quarter. 58.56% of the stock is currently 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.