Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) Sets New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $35.50 and last traded at $36.12, with a volume of 12266 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $36.00.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on MBIN. Raymond James cut their target price on shares of Merchants Bancorp from $58.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Merchants Bancorp from $48.00 to $52.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a research report on Monday, September 9th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 price objective on the stock.

Merchants Bancorp Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $38.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40.

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.42 by ($0.25). Merchants Bancorp had a return on equity of 22.36% and a net margin of 21.33%. The company had revenue of $355.67 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $156.13 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.68 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Merchants Bancorp will post 5.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Merchants Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Merchants Bancorp’s payout ratio is 5.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Patrick D. O’brien purchased 40,000 shares of Merchants Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $25.00 per share, for a total transaction of $1,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 40,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,000,000. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 39.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Merchants Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 10.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,022,893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,465,000 after purchasing an additional 94,781 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Merchants Bancorp by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 566,520 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,476,000 after buying an additional 16,666 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP lifted its position in Merchants Bancorp by 143.1% during the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 490,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,039,000 after purchasing an additional 288,553 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 4.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 448,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,205,000 after acquiring an additional 20,214 shares during the period. Finally, Banc Funds Co. LLC grew its stake in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Banc Funds Co. LLC now owns 389,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,517,000 after purchasing an additional 12,500 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.57% of the company’s stock.

About Merchants Bancorp

Merchants Bancorp operates as the diversified bank holding company in the United States. It operates through three segments: Multi-family Mortgage Banking, Mortgage Warehousing, and Banking. The Multi-family Mortgage Banking segment engages in the mortgage banking, which originates and services government sponsored mortgages, including bridge financing products to refinance, acquire, or reposition multi-family housing projects, and construction lending for multi-family and healthcare facilities.