Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) Given New $22.00 Price Target at DA Davidson

Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) had its target price increased by DA Davidson from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also commented on MRBK. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Meridian Bank in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $22.00 price target (up from $20.00) on shares of Meridian Bank in a research report on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Meridian Bank has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $22.00.

Meridian Bank Price Performance

MRBK stock opened at $20.41 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Meridian Bank has a 1 year low of $11.16 and a 1 year high of $21.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $17.67 and a 200 day moving average of $15.97. The company has a market cap of $235.12 million, a P/E ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 0.80.

Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $34.24 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.41 million. Meridian Bank had a return on equity of 12.14% and a net margin of 10.63%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meridian Bank will post 2.07 EPS for the current year.

Meridian Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This is a positive change from Meridian Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 9th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. Meridian Bank’s payout ratio is currently 26.46%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MRBK. Bessemer Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meridian Bank during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. CWM LLC bought a new position in Meridian Bank in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Meridian Bank by 26,887.5% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 4,302 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. purchased a new stake in Meridian Bank during the 2nd quarter valued at $64,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Meridian Bank by 125.9% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 4,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 2,331 shares during the last quarter. 58.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meridian Bank Company Profile

Meridian Bank, a Pennsylvania-chartered institution founded in 1993 and headquartered in Philadelphia, operates as a full-service community bank serving the Greater Philadelphia region. As a wholly owned subsidiary of Meridian Bancorp, Inc (NASDAQ: MRBK), the bank maintains a network of branch locations complemented by online and mobile platforms to meet the evolving needs of individual and business customers.

On the consumer side, Meridian Bank offers a comprehensive suite of deposit products, including checking accounts, savings accounts and certificates of deposit, alongside personal lending solutions such as home equity lines of credit, residential mortgage loans and unsecured consumer loans.