Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) Short Interest Update

Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) saw a significant drop in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totaling 105,937 shares, a drop of 15.9% from the November 30th total of 125,969 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 106,479 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.0 days. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 106,479 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.0 days.

Institutional Trading of Meridian Bank

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in shares of Meridian Bank by 6.0% during the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 31,899 shares of the company’s stock worth $458,000 after acquiring an additional 1,803 shares during the period. CWM LLC acquired a new position in Meridian Bank in the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Bessemer Group Inc. bought a new position in Meridian Bank during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Meridian Bank by 125.9% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 4,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 2,331 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Meridian Bank by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 86,203 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,111,000 after purchasing an additional 3,475 shares during the period. 58.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRBK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson raised shares of Meridian Bank to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Piper Sandler set a $19.00 target price on shares of Meridian Bank and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Meridian Bank in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meridian Bank presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $19.00.

Meridian Bank Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MRBK opened at $17.66 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Meridian Bank has a 1-year low of $11.16 and a 1-year high of $18.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $203.44 million, a P/E ratio of 9.98 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $15.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.05.

Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.08. Meridian Bank had a net margin of 9.86% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The company had revenue of $33.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.88 million. Equities analysts predict that Meridian Bank will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Meridian Bank Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th were issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Meridian Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.25%.

About Meridian Bank

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.