Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $50.50.

MBIN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Merchants Bancorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Merchants Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $58.00 target price on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Merchants Bancorp from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd.

Merchants Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MBIN opened at $44.67 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.05 billion, a PE ratio of 10.90 and a beta of 1.16. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.74. Merchants Bancorp has a one year low of $28.75 and a one year high of $50.26. 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $175.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $174.30 million. Merchants Bancorp had a net margin of 16.64% and a return on equity of 13.40%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Merchants Bancorp will post 5.21 EPS for the current year.

Merchants Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Merchants Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Merchants Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 10.73%.

Merchants Bancorp declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 6.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merchants Bancorp

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MBIN. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Merchants Bancorp by 135.6% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 365,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,609,000 after buying an additional 210,151 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its holdings in Merchants Bancorp by 1,509.5% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 175,754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,589,000 after buying an additional 164,834 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Merchants Bancorp during the first quarter valued at approximately $6,120,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Merchants Bancorp by 458.7% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 141,145 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,807,000 after buying an additional 115,881 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Merchants Bancorp by 6.2% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,758,985 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,476,000 after buying an additional 102,087 shares during the period. 24.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Merchants Bancorp

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.