Morgan Stanley Boosts Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) Price Target to $42.00

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) had its price target boosted by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $40.00 to $42.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 1.30% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on MBIN. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $42.00 price target (up previously from $41.00) on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price target (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Merchants Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Merchants Bancorp from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Merchants Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.00.

Merchants Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MBIN opened at $41.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.10. Merchants Bancorp has a one year low of $27.25 and a one year high of $43.77. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.10. The company has a market cap of $1.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.97 and a beta of 1.25.

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.34. Merchants Bancorp had a net margin of 16.02% and a return on equity of 13.35%. The business had revenue of $193.49 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.80 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Merchants Bancorp will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merchants Bancorp declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 6.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MBIN. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in Merchants Bancorp by 84.4% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 75,592 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,575,000 after acquiring an additional 34,603 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,414,584 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,181,000 after acquiring an additional 36,184 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in Merchants Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Merchants Bancorp by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,846 shares of the company’s stock worth $267,000 after buying an additional 865 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caxton Associates LLP bought a new stake in Merchants Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth about $256,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.