Royce & Associates LP Lowers Stock Holdings in Merchants Bancorp $MBIN

Royce & Associates LP trimmed its stake in Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 808,314 shares of the company’s stock after selling 53,805 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Merchants Bancorp were worth $27,531,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Merchants Bancorp by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,601,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,942,000 after buying an additional 61,622 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Merchants Bancorp by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,414,584 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,181,000 after buying an additional 36,184 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Merchants Bancorp by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 630,077 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,036,000 after buying an additional 62,097 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Merchants Bancorp by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 389,878 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,398,000 after purchasing an additional 27,358 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Merchants Bancorp by 135.6% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 365,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,609,000 after purchasing an additional 210,151 shares in the last quarter. 24.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Merchants Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of MBIN opened at $45.99 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $45.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.16. Merchants Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $28.75 and a fifty-two week high of $50.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.11 billion, a PE ratio of 11.22 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.26.

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

Merchants Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, January 28th that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 6.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Merchants Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Merchants Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.73%.

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.