Meridian’s (MRBK) Overweight Rating Reaffirmed at Piper Sandler

Meridian (NASDAQ:MRBK)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reiterated by Piper Sandler in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $20.00 price objective on the stock, down from their previous price objective of $24.00. Piper Sandler‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 26.65% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Meridian from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. DA Davidson lowered Meridian from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $22.00 to $20.00 in a report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.00.

Meridian Stock Performance

MRBK stock traded down $1.33 on Thursday, hitting $15.79. The company had a trading volume of 47,813 shares, compared to its average volume of 102,330. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.23. The stock has a market cap of $188.37 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.29 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Meridian has a 12-month low of $13.92 and a 12-month high of $21.67.

Meridian (NASDAQ:MRBK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 30th. The company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.03). Meridian had a return on equity of 11.37% and a net margin of 11.46%. The firm had revenue of $30.14 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meridian will post 1.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meridian

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meridian during the 1st quarter worth approximately $345,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in shares of Meridian in the 1st quarter worth about $416,000. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meridian in the 2nd quarter worth about $660,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its position in shares of Meridian by 103.9% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 64,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,287,000 after buying an additional 32,739 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Meridian by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 434,002 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,229,000 after purchasing an additional 38,719 shares during the last quarter. 58.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Meridian

Meridian Corporation is a bank holding company headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania. Through its principal subsidiary, Meridian Bank, the company provides commercial and community banking services to businesses, professionals and individuals in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Meridian Bank offers business lending, commercial real estate financing, construction loans, equipment financing, residential and consumer lending, deposit accounts, cash-management services and online banking. The company also provides mortgage banking and wealth management services, including investment and financial planning solutions.

Meridian was established in 2004 and serves customers through a network of banking offices in southeastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey and surrounding markets.