Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Acquires 53,333 Shares of Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN - Free Report) by 94.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 109,732 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 53,333 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC owned 0.25% of Merchants Bancorp worth $4,672,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MBIN. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new position in Merchants Bancorp during the first quarter worth about $163,000. Swiss National Bank grew its position in Merchants Bancorp by 61.3% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 35,800 shares of the company's stock worth $980,000 after buying an additional 13,600 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Merchants Bancorp by 18.5% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 70,890 shares of the company's stock worth $1,941,000 after buying an additional 11,091 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Merchants Bancorp by 58.7% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 48,608 shares of the company's stock worth $1,331,000 after buying an additional 17,971 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Merchants Bancorp during the first quarter worth about $209,000. 24.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merchants Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of MBIN traded up $0.71 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $39.15. The stock had a trading volume of 102,258 shares, compared to its average volume of 109,474. The company's 50-day moving average is $41.35 and its 200 day moving average is $37.84. Merchants Bancorp has a 12-month low of $21.50 and a 12-month high of $48.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.94 and a beta of 1.18.

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 29th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.14. Merchants Bancorp had a return on equity of 25.38% and a net margin of 23.42%. The firm had revenue of $346.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $142.65 million. On average, equities analysts predict that Merchants Bancorp will post 5.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merchants Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Merchants Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Merchants Bancorp's payout ratio is 6.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Raymond James upped their price objective on Merchants Bancorp from $44.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, 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.