Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.06 EPS

Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.06, FiscalAI reports. The firm had revenue of $34.24 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.41 million. Meridian Bank had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 9.86%.

Meridian Bank Price Performance

Shares of MRBK opened at $18.94 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.80. The stock has a market cap of $218.19 million, a PE ratio of 10.70 and a beta of 0.81. Meridian Bank has a 1-year low of $11.16 and a 1-year high of $19.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Meridian Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This is a boost from Meridian Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 9th. Meridian Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.25%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meridian Bank

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Meridian Bank by 26,887.5% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 4,302 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Meridian Bank in the second quarter valued at $64,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of Meridian Bank by 125.9% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 4,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 2,331 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Meridian Bank by 166.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 3,814 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund acquired a new position in Meridian Bank during the 2nd quarter worth about $106,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRBK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler set a $19.00 price target on Meridian Bank and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Meridian Bank in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, DA Davidson upgraded shares of Meridian Bank to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $19.00.

Meridian Bank Company Profile

Meridian Bank, a Pennsylvania-chartered institution founded in 1993 and headquartered in Philadelphia, operates as a full-service community bank serving the Greater Philadelphia region. As a wholly owned subsidiary of Meridian Bancorp, Inc (NASDAQ: MRBK), the bank maintains a network of branch locations complemented by online and mobile platforms to meet the evolving needs of individual and business customers.

On the consumer side, Meridian Bank offers a comprehensive suite of deposit products, including checking accounts, savings accounts and certificates of deposit, alongside personal lending solutions such as home equity lines of credit, residential mortgage loans and unsecured consumer loans.