Short Interest in Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) Drops By 35.5%

Key Points

• Short interest in Merchants Bancorp fell by 35.5% in March to 1,664,272 shares, equal to 5.6% of shares outstanding and a short-interest ratio of 7.1 days based on average daily volume.
• Several analysts have upgraded MBIN (Weiss to Buy, Zacks to Strong-Buy; Morgan Stanley raised its price target to $51), leaving a consensus rating of Buy with an average target of $43.25.
• Merchants beat quarterly expectations (EPS $1.28 vs. $0.94; revenue $185.3M vs. $170.8M), raised its quarterly dividend to $0.11, and initiated a $100 million share buyback authorization (up to 6.2% of shares).

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 1,664,272 shares, a decrease of 35.5% from the March 15th total of 2,582,239 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 235,367 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.1 days. Currently, 5.6% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Merchants Bancorp from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Merchants Bancorp from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research raised Merchants Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $43.25.

Merchants Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of Merchants Bancorp stock traded down $0.24 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $47.52. The company had a trading volume of 295,818 shares, compared to its average volume of 200,827. Merchants Bancorp has a one year low of $27.25 and a one year high of $48.50. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $2.18 billion, a PE ratio of 12.57 and a beta of 1.15.

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.34. Merchants Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 16.02%.The firm had revenue of $185.29 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.80 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Merchants Bancorp will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merchants Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This is a positive change from Merchants Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. Merchants Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is 11.64%.

Merchants Bancorp announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 6.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merchants Bancorp news, insider Martin A. Schroeter sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.06, for a total transaction of $253,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,881 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $501,178.86. This represents a 33.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 34.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merchants Bancorp

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MBIN. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in Merchants Bancorp by 1.0% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 220,170 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,146,000 after buying an additional 2,101 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in Merchants Bancorp by 4.4% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 10,741 shares of the company's stock valued at $397,000 after purchasing an additional 449 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in Merchants Bancorp by 60.3% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 32,874 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,216,000 after purchasing an additional 12,361 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Merchants Bancorp by 3.8% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,677 shares of the company's stock valued at $717,000 after purchasing an additional 795 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in Merchants Bancorp by 41.5% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 38,622 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,277,000 after purchasing an additional 11,334 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 24.57% of the company's stock.

Merchants Bancorp Company Profile

Merchants Bancorp NASDAQ: MBIN is the bank holding company for Merchants Bank, a regional financial institution headquartered in Buffalo, New York. Through its network of branches and digital platforms, the company offers a range of banking services across western and central New York. Merchants Bancorp operates as a full‐service commercial bank, serving small and medium-sized businesses, professionals, families and individuals in its core markets.

The company's primary activities include deposit taking, commercial and consumer lending, mortgage origination, and treasury management services.

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