DA Davidson Issues Positive Forecast for Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) Stock Price

Key Points

• DA Davidson raised its price target on Meridian Bank to $23 (from $22) and kept a buy rating, implying about a 19.7% upside from the current share price.
• Meridian missed Q1 estimates, reporting $0.39 EPS vs. $0.48 expected and $30.24M revenue vs. $31.79M, though analysts still forecast about 2.3 EPS for the year.
• The stock carries a consensus Buy rating with an average target of $22.50, and institutional investors own roughly 58.6% of the shares after recent stake increases by firms like Invesco, Millennium and Man Group.

Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK - Get Free Report) had its price target boosted by equities researchers at DA Davidson from $22.00 to $23.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "buy" rating on the stock. DA Davidson's price target points to a potential upside of 19.67% from the company's current price.

MRBK has been the topic of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Meridian Bank in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $22.00 target price (up from $20.00) on shares of Meridian Bank in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Meridian Bank from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Meridian Bank has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $22.50.

Meridian Bank Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of MRBK traded up $0.01 on Tuesday, reaching $19.22. 36,075 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 99,660. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $19.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Meridian Bank has a 12 month low of $11.16 and a 12 month high of $21.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $228.33 million, a P/E ratio of 9.29 and a beta of 0.75.

Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.09). Meridian Bank had a net margin of 11.68% and a return on equity of 12.81%. The company had revenue of $30.24 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.79 million. Research analysts anticipate that Meridian Bank will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meridian Bank

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRBK. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Meridian Bank by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 16,153 shares of the company's stock worth $284,000 after buying an additional 3,152 shares during the last quarter. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP bought a new stake in shares of Meridian Bank in the fourth quarter valued at about $234,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Meridian Bank by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 25,530 shares of the company's stock worth $449,000 after purchasing an additional 2,051 shares in the last quarter. Man Group plc increased its holdings in shares of Meridian Bank by 93.8% during the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 25,860 shares of the company's stock worth $455,000 after purchasing an additional 12,516 shares during the period. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new stake in shares of Meridian Bank in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $181,000. 58.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Meridian Bank

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.

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