Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) shares gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $39.76, but opened at $43.05. Merchants Bancorp shares last traded at $42.89, with a volume of 39,469 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Merchants Bancorp from $48.00 to $52.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Raymond James cut their target price on Merchants Bancorp from $58.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th.

Merchants Bancorp Stock Up 6.8 %

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.09 and a beta of 1.14.

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.58. Merchants Bancorp had a return on equity of 22.36% and a net margin of 21.33%. As a group, research analysts expect that Merchants Bancorp will post 5.73 EPS for the current year.

Merchants Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. Merchants Bancorp’s payout ratio is 5.96%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merchants Bancorp news, Director Patrick D. O’brien acquired 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $25.00 per share, with a total value of $1,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 40,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,000,000. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 39.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merchants Bancorp

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Royce & Associates LP increased its holdings in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 143.1% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 490,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,039,000 after purchasing an additional 288,553 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 448,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,205,000 after buying an additional 20,214 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Merchants Bancorp by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 566,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,476,000 after buying an additional 16,666 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Merchants Bancorp by 351.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 28,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,273,000 after acquiring an additional 22,046 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Merchants Bancorp by 85.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 33,338 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,504,000 after acquiring an additional 15,342 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 24.57% of the company’s stock.

About Merchants Bancorp

Merchants Bancorp operates as the diversified bank holding company in the United States. It operates through three segments: Multi-family Mortgage Banking, Mortgage Warehousing, and Banking. The Multi-family Mortgage Banking segment engages in the mortgage banking, which originates and services government sponsored mortgages, including bridge financing products to refinance, acquire, or reposition multi-family housing projects, and construction lending for multi-family and healthcare facilities.