Ballast Asset Management LP Acquires 61,418 Shares of Merchants Bancorp $MBIN

Ballast Asset Management LP increased its stake in Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) by 80.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 137,887 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 61,418 shares during the period. Merchants Bancorp comprises 2.0% of Ballast Asset Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Ballast Asset Management LP’s holdings in Merchants Bancorp were worth $4,385,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Merchants Bancorp by 17.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 681,486 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,539,000 after acquiring an additional 101,139 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Merchants Bancorp by 10.7% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 567,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,783,000 after purchasing an additional 55,038 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Merchants Bancorp by 48.0% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 133,325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,409,000 after purchasing an additional 43,225 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Merchants Bancorp in the second quarter worth $1,146,000. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 17.8% in the second quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 200,510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,631,000 after buying an additional 30,356 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.57% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MBIN has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Merchants Bancorp from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group set a $42.00 price target on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Merchants Bancorp from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $38.00 price objective (down from $40.00) on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Merchants Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Merchants Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.00.

Merchants Bancorp Trading Up 2.5%

Merchants Bancorp stock opened at $41.46 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $1.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.97 and a beta of 1.27. Merchants Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $27.25 and a fifty-two week high of $43.77. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $34.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.10.

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.34. Merchants Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.35% and a net margin of 16.02%.The firm had revenue of $193.49 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.80 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Merchants Bancorp will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merchants Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. Merchants Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.58%.

Merchants Bancorp declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 28th that permits the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 6.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

About Merchants Bancorp

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.