Maltese Capital Management LLC Purchases 26,554 Shares of Meridian Bank $MRBK

Maltese Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) by 333.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,523 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 26,554 shares during the quarter. Maltese Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.30% of Meridian Bank worth $607,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new stake in Meridian Bank during the third quarter worth about $1,996,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in Meridian Bank by 159.2% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 61,466 shares of the company’s stock worth $971,000 after buying an additional 37,755 shares during the last quarter. Fourthstone LLC grew its stake in Meridian Bank by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 1,121,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,721,000 after buying an additional 49,561 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Meridian Bank by 9.4% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 361,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,715,000 after buying an additional 31,162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Meridian Bank by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 213,117 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,747,000 after buying an additional 1,232 shares during the last quarter. 58.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meridian Bank Trading Down 1.1%

MRBK opened at $19.74 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $18.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market cap of $234.71 million, a PE ratio of 9.54 and a beta of 0.67. Meridian Bank has a twelve month low of $11.16 and a twelve month high of $21.67.

Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $30.24 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.79 million. Meridian Bank had a return on equity of 12.61% and a net margin of 11.68%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meridian Bank will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Meridian Bank Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. Meridian Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MRBK. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Meridian Bank from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Meridian Bank from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Piper Sandler set a $21.00 target price on shares of Meridian Bank and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Meridian Bank from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Meridian Bank from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meridian Bank presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.00.

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.