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

Shares of Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the five brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $43.25.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Merchants Bancorp from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Merchants Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd.

Merchants Bancorp Price Performance

Merchants Bancorp stock opened at $42.26 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company has a market capitalization of $1.94 billion, a PE ratio of 11.18 and a beta of 1.25. Merchants Bancorp has a one year low of $27.25 and a one year high of $48.50.

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.34. Merchants Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 16.02%.The firm had revenue of $185.29 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $170.80 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Merchants Bancorp will post 5.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merchants Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. This is an increase from Merchants Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Merchants Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.58%.

Merchants Bancorp declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 6.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Merchants Bancorp

In related news, insider Martin A. Schroeter sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.06, for a total transaction of $253,330.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 10,881 shares in the company, valued at $501,178.86. This represents a 33.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 34.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merchants Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MBIN. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 45,818 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,561,000 after buying an additional 667 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 200.7% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 57,324 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,926,000 after buying an additional 38,262 shares during the last quarter. Numerai GP LLC acquired a new position in Merchants Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $254,000. Man Group plc acquired a new position in Merchants Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $1,902,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in Merchants Bancorp by 29.3% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 18,536 shares of the company’s stock worth $631,000 after acquiring an additional 4,202 shares during the last quarter. 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.