Royce & Associates LP Sells 53,805 Shares of Merchants Bancorp $MBIN

Royce & Associates LP cut its holdings in Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 808,314 shares of the company’s stock after selling 53,805 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned about 1.76% of Merchants Bancorp worth $27,531,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ballast Asset Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 80.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ballast Asset Management LP now owns 137,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,385,000 after buying an additional 61,418 shares during the last quarter. Doma Perpetual Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merchants Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,984,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Merchants Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth about $879,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,414,584 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,181,000 after buying an additional 36,184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 630,077 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,036,000 after buying an additional 62,097 shares during the last quarter. 24.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Merchants Bancorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $51.00 target price on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Merchants Bancorp from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Merchants Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $58.00 target price on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.50.

Merchants Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MBIN opened at $45.99 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.22 and a beta of 1.16. Merchants Bancorp has a 12 month low of $28.75 and a 12 month high of $50.26. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $45.51 and its 200 day moving average is $40.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68.

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

Merchants Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Merchants Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.73%.

Merchants Bancorp declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 28th that permits the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 6.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is 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.