Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $51.00 and last traded at $49.7560, with a volume of 4955 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $48.92.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Merchants Bancorp from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $58.00 target price on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $51.00 target price on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings raised Merchants Bancorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Merchants Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.50.

Merchants Bancorp Trading Down 0.2%

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.49. The stock has a market cap of $2.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.08 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.09. Merchants Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.40% and a net margin of 16.64%.The firm had revenue of $175.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $174.30 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Merchants Bancorp will post 5.21 EPS for the current year.

Merchants Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Merchants Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.73%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MBIN. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 135.6% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 365,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,609,000 after purchasing an additional 210,151 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its holdings in Merchants Bancorp by 1,509.5% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 175,754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,589,000 after acquiring an additional 164,834 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Merchants Bancorp in the first quarter valued at $6,120,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Merchants Bancorp by 458.7% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 141,145 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,807,000 after acquiring an additional 115,881 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Merchants Bancorp by 6.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,758,985 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,476,000 after acquiring an additional 102,087 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.57% of the company’s stock.

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.