Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $48.50 and last traded at $47.8650, with a volume of 28612 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $47.63.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MBIN. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $42.00 price objective (up from $41.00) on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Zacks Research raised Merchants Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Merchants Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Merchants Bancorp from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Merchants Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.00.

Merchants Bancorp Trading Down 1.0%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. The firm has a market cap of $2.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.47 and a beta of 1.27. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.95.

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

Merchants Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Merchants Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.58%.

Merchants Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 6.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Martin A. Schroeter sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.06, for a total value of $253,330.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 10,881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $501,178.86. The trade was a 33.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 34.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Merchants Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,656,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,433,000 after purchasing an additional 54,970 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Merchants Bancorp by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,414,584 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,181,000 after acquiring an additional 36,184 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP raised its holdings in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 862,119 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,415,000 after acquiring an additional 79,707 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 715,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,371,000 after acquiring an additional 18,925 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 10.9% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 630,077 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,036,000 after purchasing an additional 62,097 shares in the last quarter. 24.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.