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

Shares of Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) have been given a consensus rating of “Buy” by the five ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $51.50.

MBIN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $64.00 price objective on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley reiterated a “positive” rating and set a $49.00 target price (up from $46.00) on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Zacks Research raised Merchants Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial cut Merchants Bancorp from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a report on Friday, July 31st.

Merchants Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ:MBIN opened at $54.25 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market cap of $2.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.89 and a beta of 1.14. Merchants Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $29.92 and a fifty-two week high of $56.87. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.12.

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.26. Merchants Bancorp had a net margin of 19.80% and a return on equity of 15.29%. The firm had revenue of $182.22 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $179.00 million. Analysts predict that Merchants Bancorp will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merchants Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Merchants Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.84%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merchants Bancorp 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 transaction, the director owned 727,103 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,136,085.60. This represents a 1.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 44.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Merchants Bancorp in the second quarter worth approximately $205,260,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Merchants Bancorp by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,758,985 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,476,000 after buying an additional 102,087 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Merchants Bancorp by 2.6% during 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 715,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,371,000 after buying an additional 18,925 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 574,086 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,609,000 after buying an additional 25,823 shares during the period. 24.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.