Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) Trading Up 3.6% – What’s Next?

Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) rose 3.6% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $18.57 and last traded at $18.53. Approximately 146,733 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 69% from the average daily volume of 86,696 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.88.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRBK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered Meridian Bank from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Meridian Bank from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings lowered Meridian Bank from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen lowered Meridian Bank from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $21.00 price target on Meridian Bank and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.00.

Meridian Bank Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $220.32 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.95 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.97.

Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $30.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.79 million. Meridian Bank had a return on equity of 12.61% and a net margin of 11.68%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meridian Bank will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Meridian Bank Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Meridian Bank’s payout ratio is presently 27.05%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meridian Bank by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 213,117 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,747,000 after acquiring an additional 1,232 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Meridian Bank by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 42,279 shares of the company’s stock valued at $743,000 after purchasing an additional 1,634 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Meridian Bank by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 25,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $449,000 after buying an additional 2,051 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Meridian Bank by 125.9% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 4,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 2,331 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Meridian Bank by 24.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 16,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $284,000 after buying an additional 3,152 shares in the last quarter. 58.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.