Meridian Co. (NASDAQ:MRBK) Short Interest Update

Meridian Co. (NASDAQ:MRBK) saw a significant decrease in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,800 shares, a decrease of 20.0% from the October 15th total of 11,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 13,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.6 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Meridian from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Meridian from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meridian

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MRBK. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Meridian by 3.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 93,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,183,000 after purchasing an additional 2,838 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Meridian by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 40,406 shares of the company’s stock valued at $511,000 after acquiring an additional 3,675 shares in the last quarter. Banc Funds Co. LLC boosted its stake in Meridian by 4.7% during the third quarter. Banc Funds Co. LLC now owns 829,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,480,000 after acquiring an additional 37,450 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Meridian in the third quarter worth $128,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Meridian by 6.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 171,249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,801,000 after purchasing an additional 10,514 shares in the last quarter. 58.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meridian Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Meridian stock traded up $0.08 during trading on Friday, hitting $14.23. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 24,993 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,702. The stock has a market cap of $159.95 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.09 and a beta of 0.74. Meridian has a 52 week low of $8.26 and a 52 week high of $14.45. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $12.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Meridian (NASDAQ:MRBK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.07. Meridian had a return on equity of 6.99% and a net margin of 6.00%. The firm had revenue of $51.15 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.57 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meridian will post 1.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meridian Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be given a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. Meridian’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.51%.

About Meridian

Meridian Corporation operates as the holding company for Meridian Bank that provides commercial banking products and services in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Florida, and Maryland. The company offers various deposit products, such as demand non-interest bearing, demand interest bearing, savings accounts, money market accounts, and time deposits.