Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) Short Interest Up 20.0% in January

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 826,000 shares, a growth of 20.0% from the January 15th total of 688,300 shares. Currently, 4.1% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 166,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.0 days.

Merchants Bancorp Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of MBIN stock traded up $0.52 on Monday, hitting $43.19. The stock had a trading volume of 95,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 180,733. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 1.15. Merchants Bancorp has a 1 year low of $34.16 and a 1 year high of $53.27. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $38.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.14.

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.58. Merchants Bancorp had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 22.08%. Analysts anticipate that Merchants Bancorp will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Merchants Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. Merchants Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $53.00 price target (up previously from $50.00) on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Merchants Bancorp from $52.50 to $56.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Scott A. Evans sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.10, for a total value of $1,077,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 27,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,189,818.60. This represents a 47.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 39.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merchants Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MBIN. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 80.2% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 9,499 shares of the company’s stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 4,227 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its holdings in Merchants Bancorp by 209.4% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,284 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 869 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Merchants Bancorp by 16.0% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 64,238 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,888,000 after purchasing an additional 8,873 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in Merchants Bancorp by 8,677.6% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,881 shares of the company’s stock worth $264,000 after purchasing an additional 5,814 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Merchants Bancorp by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 5,340 shares of the company’s stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.57% of the company’s stock.

Merchants Bancorp Company Profile

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.