Meridian Co. (NASDAQ:MRBK) Short Interest Update

Meridian Co. (NASDAQ:MRBK) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 42,500 shares, a decrease of 17.3% from the February 28th total of 51,400 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 54,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.8 days. Currently, 0.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Meridian

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Meridian in the third quarter valued at about $128,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Meridian in the 4th quarter valued at about $139,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meridian in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $186,000. Citadel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meridian by 29.0% during the 4th quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 18,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 4,129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Meridian by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 18,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $253,000 after buying an additional 2,609 shares during the period. 58.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meridian Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MRBK remained flat at $14.30 during midday trading on Wednesday. 35,950 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 25,929. The stock has a market cap of $161.38 million, a P/E ratio of 9.86 and a beta of 0.68. Meridian has a 12-month low of $8.26 and a 12-month high of $17.33. The business’s 50-day moving average is $15.44 and its 200 day moving average is $14.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.97.

Meridian (NASDAQ:MRBK) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.14. Meridian had a net margin of 8.28% and a return on equity of 10.01%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meridian will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meridian Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Meridian’s payout ratio is currently 34.48%.

About Meridian

Meridian Corporation operates as the holding company for Meridian Bank that provides commercial banking products and services in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Florida, and Maryland. The company offers various deposit products, such as demand non-interest bearing, demand interest bearing, savings accounts, money market accounts, and time deposits.