Federated Hermes Inc. Grows Stake in Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN)

Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) by 42,253.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 217,274 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 216,761 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Merchants Bancorp were worth $9,252,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MBIN. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in Merchants Bancorp by 45.9% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 4,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,000 after acquiring an additional 1,463 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Merchants Bancorp during the third quarter worth about $199,000. Arizona State Retirement System acquired a new position in Merchants Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $206,000. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Merchants Bancorp during the third quarter worth about $208,000. Finally, Bailard Inc. acquired a new position in Merchants Bancorp during the third quarter worth about $227,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.57% of the company’s stock.

Merchants Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MBIN opened at $40.93 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.26 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s 50-day moving average is $41.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.11. Merchants Bancorp has a 1-year low of $21.50 and a 1-year high of $48.68.

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $346.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $142.65 million. Merchants Bancorp had a net margin of 23.42% and a return on equity of 25.38%. Analysts forecast that Merchants Bancorp will post 5.65 EPS for the current year.

Merchants Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. This is a positive change from Merchants Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Merchants Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 6.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Merchants Bancorp from $44.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th.

Merchants Bancorp Profile

Merchants Bancorp operates as the diversified bank holding company in the United States. It operates through three segments: Multi-family Mortgage Banking, Mortgage Warehousing, and Banking. The Multi-family Mortgage Banking segment engages in the mortgage banking, which originates and services government sponsored mortgages, including bridge financing products to refinance, acquire, or reposition multi-family housing projects, and construction lending for multi-family and healthcare facilities.