Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) Downgraded by Zacks Research to “Hold”

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $58.00 price target on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Merchants Bancorp from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Weiss Ratings downgraded Merchants Bancorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $51.00 price objective on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a research report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Merchants Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.50.

Merchants Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MBIN opened at $46.60 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.59. Merchants Bancorp has a 52-week low of $28.75 and a 52-week high of $50.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.14 billion, a PE ratio of 11.37 and a beta of 1.15.

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.09. Merchants Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.60% and a net margin of 16.64%.The business had revenue of $175.25 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $174.30 million. Analysts forecast that Merchants Bancorp will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

Merchants Bancorp announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merchants Bancorp news, insider Martin A. Schroeter sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 10,881 shares in the company, valued at $501,178.86. This represents a 33.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 44.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merchants Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Merchants Bancorp by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 220,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,146,000 after purchasing an additional 2,101 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Merchants Bancorp by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 10,741 shares of the company’s stock worth $397,000 after purchasing an additional 449 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 60.3% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 32,874 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,216,000 after acquiring an additional 12,361 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $717,000 after acquiring an additional 795 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 41.5% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 38,622 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,277,000 after acquiring an additional 11,334 shares during the period. 24.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merchants Bancorp Company 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.