Meridian (NASDAQ:MRBK) Cut to Neutral at DA Davidson

DA Davidson cut shares of Meridian (NASDAQ:MRBK) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat reports. DA Davidson currently has $20.00 price objective on the stock, down from their prior price objective of $22.00.

Separately, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Meridian from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meridian currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.00.

Meridian Price Performance

Meridian stock opened at $16.35 on Tuesday. Meridian has a 1 year low of $13.92 and a 1 year high of $21.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $18.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.22. The company has a market cap of $195.06 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.96 and a beta of 0.65.

Meridian (NASDAQ:MRBK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 30th. The company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $30.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 million. Meridian had a return on equity of 11.37% and a net margin of 11.46%. Sell-side analysts predict that Meridian will post 1.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Meridian Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 9th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 9th. Meridian’s payout ratio is currently 29.32%.

Institutional Trading of Meridian

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its holdings in Meridian by 103.9% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 64,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,287,000 after buying an additional 32,739 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in Meridian by 17.0% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 25,609 shares of the company’s stock valued at $515,000 after buying an additional 3,718 shares in the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Meridian during the second quarter worth approximately $660,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Meridian during the second quarter worth approximately $13,832,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Meridian by 9.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 434,002 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,229,000 after buying an additional 38,719 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.56% of the company’s stock.

About Meridian

Meridian Corporation is a bank holding company headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania. Through its principal subsidiary, Meridian Bank, the company provides commercial and community banking services to businesses, professionals and individuals in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Meridian Bank offers business lending, commercial real estate financing, construction loans, equipment financing, residential and consumer lending, deposit accounts, cash-management services and online banking. The company also provides mortgage banking and wealth management services, including investment and financial planning solutions.

Meridian was established in 2004 and serves customers through a network of banking offices in southeastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey and surrounding markets.