Virtus Advisers LLC Acquires Shares of 8,350 Merchants Bancorp $MBIN

Key Points

• Virtus Advisers LLC purchased 8,350 shares of Merchants Bancorp, valued at approximately $309,000, in the first quarter as per their recent SEC filing.
• Merchants Bancorp's stock has received mixed ratings, with an average "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $38.33 despite some analysts lowering their price targets.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, equating to an annualized yield of 1.2%, payable on October 1st to investors of record by September 15th.

Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 8,350 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $309,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MBIN. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in Merchants Bancorp by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 13,610 shares of the company's stock worth $496,000 after purchasing an additional 1,303 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Merchants Bancorp by 28.6% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 22,426 shares of the company's stock worth $818,000 after purchasing an additional 4,990 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Merchants Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,095,000. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 31,681 shares of the company's stock worth $1,155,000 after acquiring an additional 3,369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 136,329 shares of the company's stock worth $4,972,000 after acquiring an additional 13,056 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.57% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $40.00 price objective (down previously from $41.00) on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $41.00 price objective (down previously from $42.00) on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Merchants Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Merchants Bancorp from $40.00 to $34.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merchants Bancorp has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $38.33.

Merchants Bancorp Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of MBIN stock traded down $0.12 on Friday, hitting $32.42. The stock had a trading volume of 148,942 shares, compared to its average volume of 217,251. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.13 and a beta of 1.30. The stock's 50 day moving average is $33.17 and its 200-day moving average is $34.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.45, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.20. Merchants Bancorp has a 52-week low of $27.25 and a 52-week high of $47.42.

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.12 by ($0.52). The firm had revenue of $179.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $161.10 million. Merchants Bancorp had a net margin of 18.06% and a return on equity of 16.06%. As a group, research analysts expect that Merchants Bancorp will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Merchants Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Merchants Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is 8.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merchants Bancorp

In other news, CAO Darin L. Thomas bought 3,353 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $29.71 per share, for a total transaction of $99,617.63. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief accounting officer owned 2,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at $66,847.50. This trade represents a -303.99% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 34.80% of the company's stock.

Merchants Bancorp Company Profile

Merchants Bancorp operates as the diversified bank holding company in the United States. It operates through three segments: Multi-family Mortgage Banking, Mortgage Warehousing, and Banking. The Multi-family Mortgage Banking segment engages in the mortgage banking, which originates and services government sponsored mortgages, including bridge financing products to refinance, acquire, or reposition multi-family housing projects, and construction lending for multi-family and healthcare facilities.