Short Interest in Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) Decreases By 29.6%

Key Points

• Short interest fell 29.6% in April to 83,248 shares (about 0.8% of shares outstanding), with a short-interest ratio of 0.6 days based on average daily volume.
• Analysts maintain an overall "Buy" consensus with a $22.00 average price target after recent upgrades from Piper Sandler and DA Davidson, though Wall Street Zen recently cut the rating to "Hold."
• Meridian missed quarterly expectations (EPS $0.39 vs. $0.48 estimate; revenue $30.24M vs. $31.79M) but declared a $0.14 quarterly dividend (2.9% yield); the stock trades at a P/E of 9.28 with a market cap of about $228M.

Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 83,248 shares, a decrease of 29.6% from the March 31st total of 118,283 shares. Approximately 0.8% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 135,173 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.6 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on MRBK shares. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $22.00 price target (up from $20.00) on shares of Meridian Bank in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Meridian Bank from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Meridian Bank from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Meridian Bank in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Meridian Bank has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meridian Bank

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. CWM LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meridian Bank in the third quarter worth $34,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Meridian Bank by 26,887.5% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,318 shares of the company's stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 4,302 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Meridian Bank in the second quarter worth $64,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Meridian Bank by 125.9% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 4,183 shares of the company's stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 2,331 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Meridian Bank by 166.6% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,103 shares of the company's stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 3,814 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.56% of the company's stock.

Meridian Bank Stock Performance

Shares of MRBK stock opened at $19.21 on Tuesday. Meridian Bank has a one year low of $11.16 and a one year high of $21.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $19.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $228.21 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.28 and a beta of 0.75.

Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.09). Meridian Bank had a return on equity of 12.81% and a net margin of 11.68%.The company had revenue of $30.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.79 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Meridian Bank will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Meridian Bank Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th will be given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 4th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Meridian Bank's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.05%.

Meridian Bank Company Profile

Meridian Bank, a Pennsylvania-chartered institution founded in 1993 and headquartered in Philadelphia, operates as a full-service community bank serving the Greater Philadelphia region. As a wholly owned subsidiary of Meridian Bancorp, Inc NASDAQ: MRBK, the bank maintains a network of branch locations complemented by online and mobile platforms to meet the evolving needs of individual and business customers.

On the consumer side, Meridian Bank offers a comprehensive suite of deposit products, including checking accounts, savings accounts and certificates of deposit, alongside personal lending solutions such as home equity lines of credit, residential mortgage loans and unsecured consumer loans.

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