Merchants Bancorp $MBIN Shares Bought by Sapient Capital LLC

Sapient Capital LLC raised its holdings in Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) by 41.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 75,521 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,030 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in Merchants Bancorp were worth $2,550,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merchants Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new stake in shares of Merchants Bancorp during the third quarter valued at about $57,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 110.0% during 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. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 16.7% in the 2nd quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 6,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,000 after acquiring an additional 984 shares during the period. Finally, Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Merchants Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $256,000. 24.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MBIN. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Merchants Bancorp from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Zacks Research lowered Merchants Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $51.00 price objective on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Merchants Bancorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.50.

Merchants Bancorp Price Performance

MBIN stock opened at $45.14 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.01 and a beta of 1.16. The business’s 50-day moving average is $45.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.65. Merchants Bancorp has a 1 year low of $28.75 and a 1 year high of $50.26.

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.09. Merchants Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.40% and a net margin of 16.64%.The business had revenue of $175.25 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $174.30 million. Analysts anticipate that Merchants Bancorp will post 5.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merchants Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This is a boost from Merchants Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Merchants Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.73%.

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

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.