64,385 Shares in Merchants Bancorp $MBIN Acquired by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 64,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,219,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MBIN. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 110.0% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 1,153 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL purchased a new position in shares of Merchants Bancorp in the first quarter worth about $215,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 16.7% during the second quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 6,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $228,000 after acquiring an additional 984 shares in the last quarter. Numerai GP LLC bought a new position in Merchants Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth about $254,000. Finally, Caxton Associates LLP bought a new stake in Merchants Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $256,000. 24.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merchants Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MBIN opened at $52.68 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a PE ratio of 10.58 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.21. Merchants Bancorp has a one year low of $30.37 and a one year high of $56.87. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.90.

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $182.22 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $179.00 million. Merchants Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.29% and a net margin of 19.80%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Merchants Bancorp will post 5.58 EPS for the current year.

Merchants Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Merchants Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 8.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MBIN shares. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Merchants Bancorp from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Morgan Stanley reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $49.00 target price (up from $46.00) on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a report on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research raised Merchants Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $64.00 price target on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $51.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Julia Kaercher sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.20, for a total transaction of $496,800.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 727,103 shares in the company, valued at $40,136,085.60. This trade represents a 1.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 44.90% of the company’s stock.

Merchants Bancorp Profile

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.