Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 629,600 shares, a drop of 16.5% from the March 15th total of 754,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 168,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.7 days. Approximately 3.1% of the company's stock are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merchants Bancorp news, insider Scott A. Evans sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.10, for a total transaction of $1,077,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 27,606 shares in the company, valued at $1,189,818.60. This represents a 47.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 34.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merchants Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MBIN. Elser Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Merchants Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $994,207,000. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 225,419 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,221,000 after purchasing an additional 6,882 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 3.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 566,520 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,476,000 after purchasing an additional 16,666 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Merchants Bancorp by 4.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 448,525 shares of the company's stock worth $20,205,000 after purchasing an additional 20,214 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Merchants Bancorp by 85.3% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 33,338 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,504,000 after buying an additional 15,342 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 24.57% of the company's stock.

Merchants Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MBIN traded down $0.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $32.44. The company had a trading volume of 76,572 shares, compared to its average volume of 191,283. The stock has a market cap of $1.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.14 and a beta of 1.15. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $36.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Merchants Bancorp has a 12 month low of $30.73 and a 12 month high of $53.27.

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.58. Merchants Bancorp had a net margin of 22.08% and a return on equity of 22.86%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Merchants Bancorp will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Merchants Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.10 dividend. This is a boost from Merchants Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. Merchants Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is 6.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on MBIN. Raymond James dropped their price target on Merchants Bancorp from $53.00 to $45.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Merchants Bancorp from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Merchants Bancorp from $52.50 to $56.50 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th.

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.