Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) Announces Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.03 EPS

Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.03), Zacks reports. Meridian Bank had a net margin of 11.89% and a return on equity of 12.43%. The business had revenue of $32.67 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.31 million.

Meridian Bank Stock Performance

Shares of Meridian Bank stock opened at $19.64 on Friday. Meridian Bank has a one year low of $13.81 and a one year high of $21.67. The company has a market capitalization of $233.52 million, a PE ratio of 9.53 and a beta of 0.65. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.20.

Meridian Bank Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be given a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. Meridian Bank’s payout ratio is presently 27.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MRBK. Piper Sandler set a $21.00 target price on Meridian Bank and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Meridian Bank from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Meridian Bank from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 18th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Meridian Bank from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Meridian Bank from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.00.

Institutional Trading of Meridian Bank

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Meridian Bank during the 1st quarter worth $209,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Meridian Bank by 114.1% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 83,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,198,000 after buying an additional 44,332 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in Meridian Bank by 178.7% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 65,483 shares of the company’s stock valued at $943,000 after buying an additional 41,984 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meridian Bank by 110.9% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 212,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,745,000 after acquiring an additional 111,939 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.56% of the company’s stock.

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.