Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the five ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $51.50.

MBIN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Merchants Bancorp from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a research note on Friday. Zacks Research lowered Merchants Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed a “positive” rating and issued a $49.00 price objective (up from $46.00) on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $64.00 target price on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday.

Merchants Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MBIN opened at $55.18 on Monday. Merchants Bancorp has a 12-month low of $28.75 and a 12-month high of $56.87. The business has a 50 day moving average of $48.87 and a 200-day moving average of $45.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The stock has a market cap of $2.53 billion, a PE ratio of 11.08 and a beta of 1.14.

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $182.22 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $179.00 million. Merchants Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.29% and a net margin of 19.80%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Merchants Bancorp will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Merchants Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Merchants Bancorp’s payout ratio is 8.84%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Julia L. Kaercher sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.20, for a total transaction of $496,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 727,103 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,136,085.60. This represents a 1.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 44.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merchants Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Merchants Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in Merchants Bancorp by 110.0% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 1,153 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL acquired a new position in Merchants Bancorp during the first quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP raised its position in Merchants Bancorp by 16.7% during the second quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 6,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 984 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Numerai GP LLC bought a new stake in Merchants Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $254,000. 24.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Merchants Bancorp

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.