Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) Raised to "Strong-Buy" at DA Davidson

Key Points

• Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) has been upgraded to a "strong-buy" rating by investment analysts at DA Davidson, indicating positive market sentiment towards the bank's stock.
• The company reported a quarterly EPS of $0.49, surpassing analysts' expectations and showing promising revenue growth, which has analysts predicting an EPS of 2.07 for the current fiscal year.
• Institutional investors hold 58.56% of Meridian Bank's stock, with significant increases in holdings by firms like Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management and Russell Investments Group.

Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at DA Davidson to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Meridian Bank in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $17.50.

Meridian Bank Stock Performance

Shares of MRBK stock opened at $14.36 on Monday. 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's 50-day moving average is $15.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.17. The firm has a market cap of $162.27 million, a P/E ratio of 8.92 and a beta of 0.79.

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

Institutional Trading of Meridian Bank

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRBK. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Meridian Bank by 113.9% in the 1st quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 79,065 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,139,000 after buying an additional 42,106 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Meridian Bank by 2,614.3% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 27,143 shares of the company's stock valued at $391,000 after buying an additional 26,143 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. acquired a new stake in Meridian Bank in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $310,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in Meridian Bank by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 31,899 shares of the company's stock valued at $458,000 after buying an additional 1,803 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp acquired a new stake in Meridian Bank in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $276,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.56% of the company's stock.

About Meridian Bank

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.

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