Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Purchases Shares of 15,132 Merchants Bancorp $MBIN

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund purchased a new position in Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 15,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $649,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MBIN. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Merchants Bancorp by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,414,584 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,181,000 after buying an additional 36,184 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in shares of Merchants Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $355,000. Sapient Capital LLC grew its position in Merchants Bancorp by 41.2% in the fourth quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 75,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,550,000 after acquiring an additional 22,030 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its stake in Merchants Bancorp by 84.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 75,592 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,575,000 after acquiring an additional 34,603 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Merchants Bancorp during the first quarter valued at about $558,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.57% of the company’s stock.

Merchants Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MBIN opened at $47.69 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.75. The stock has a market cap of $2.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.63 and a beta of 1.14. Merchants Bancorp has a twelve month low of $28.75 and a twelve month high of $51.47.

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.09. Merchants Bancorp had a net margin of 16.64% and a return on equity of 13.40%. The business had revenue of $175.25 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $174.30 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Merchants Bancorp will post 5.15 EPS for the current year.

Merchants Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Merchants Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on MBIN shares. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Merchants Bancorp from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Zacks Research lowered shares of Merchants Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $49.00 target price (up from $46.00) on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Merchants Bancorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $58.00 price target on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.00.

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.