Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases Shares of 142,616 Merchants Bancorp $MBIN

Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 142,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,120,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MBIN. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 220,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,146,000 after purchasing an additional 2,101 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Merchants Bancorp by 4.4% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 10,741 shares of the company’s stock worth $397,000 after purchasing an additional 449 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in Merchants Bancorp by 60.3% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 32,874 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,216,000 after purchasing an additional 12,361 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in Merchants Bancorp by 3.8% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $717,000 after buying an additional 795 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in Merchants Bancorp by 41.5% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 38,622 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,277,000 after buying an additional 11,334 shares during the period. 24.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial downgraded Merchants Bancorp from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Merchants Bancorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $58.00 price target on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley restated a “positive” rating and set a $49.00 price target (up from $46.00) on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Merchants Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Merchants Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.00.

Merchants Bancorp Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of MBIN opened at $48.37 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.80 and a beta of 1.14. Merchants Bancorp has a twelve month low of $28.75 and a twelve month high of $51.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.91.

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $174.30 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Merchants Bancorp will post 5.15 EPS for the current year.

Merchants Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Merchants Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.