Acadian Asset Management LLC Purchases 52,500 Shares of Meridian Bank $MRBK

Key Points

• Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) by 75.3%, owning 122,199 shares valued at approximately $1.76 million.
• Meridian Bank reported an EPS of $0.49, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.42, with revenues of $32.45 million for the latest quarter.
• The bank announced a quarterly dividend of $0.125, reflecting an annualized total of $0.50 and a yield of 3.2% with a payout ratio of 31.06%.

Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK - Free Report) by 75.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 122,199 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 52,500 shares during the quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC owned approximately 1.08% of Meridian Bank worth $1,758,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meridian Bank during the 1st quarter valued at about $209,000. Citadel Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meridian Bank by 29.0% during the 4th quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 18,347 shares of the company's stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 4,129 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Meridian Bank by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 18,452 shares of the company's stock worth $253,000 after acquiring an additional 2,609 shares during the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp acquired a new stake in Meridian Bank during the first quarter valued at approximately $276,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. acquired a new position in Meridian Bank in the 1st quarter valued at $310,000. Institutional investors own 58.56% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Meridian Bank from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meridian Bank currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $17.50.

Meridian Bank Stock Performance

MRBK stock traded down $0.15 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $15.97. The stock had a trading volume of 224,832 shares, compared to its average volume of 74,818. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Meridian Bank has a fifty-two week low of $11.16 and a fifty-two week high of $17.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $180.46 million, a PE ratio of 9.92 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.02.

Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.07. Meridian Bank had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 10.62%. The business had revenue of $32.45 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $29.65 million. Analysts predict that Meridian Bank will post 2.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meridian Bank Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Meridian Bank's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.06%.

Meridian Bank Company Profile

Meridian Corporation operates as the holding company for Meridian Bank that provides commercial banking products and services in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Florida, and Maryland. The company offers various deposit products, such as demand non-interest bearing, demand interest bearing, savings accounts, money market accounts, and time deposits.