Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) Receives $43.25 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the five research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $43.25.

Several brokerages have issued reports on MBIN. Morgan Stanley lifted 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 raised Merchants Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Merchants Bancorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th.

Merchants Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ:MBIN opened at $49.78 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.17 and a beta of 1.15. Merchants Bancorp has a 52-week low of $27.25 and a 52-week high of $50.26. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $44.55 and a 200 day moving average of $38.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.16.

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.34. Merchants Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 16.02%.The company had revenue of $185.29 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.80 million. On average, research analysts expect that Merchants Bancorp will post 5.24 EPS 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 paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. This is an increase from Merchants Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. Merchants Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.64%.

Merchants Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, January 28th that permits the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 6.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Merchants Bancorp

In other news, insider Martin A. Schroeter sold 5,500 shares of Merchants Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.06, for a total value of $253,330.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 10,881 shares in the company, valued at approximately $501,178.86. The trade was a 33.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 44.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MBIN. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 1.0% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 220,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,146,000 after buying an additional 2,101 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 449 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 12,361 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 3.8% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,677 shares of the company’s stock worth $717,000 after buying an additional 795 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 41.5% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 38,622 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,277,000 after buying an additional 11,334 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.57% of the company’s stock.

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.