Short Interest in Meridian Co. (NASDAQ:MRBK) Expands By 36.9%

Meridian Co. (NASDAQ:MRBK) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,900 shares, a growth of 36.9% from the December 31st total of 6,500 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 22,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.4 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MRBK. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Meridian from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. DA Davidson increased their price target on Meridian from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th.

Meridian Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MRBK traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $16.72. 47,888 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 34,190. Meridian has a one year low of $8.26 and a one year high of $17.33. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $15.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $13.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $187.93 million, a P/E ratio of 11.53 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.97.

Meridian (NASDAQ:MRBK) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.14. Meridian had a return on equity of 10.01% and a net margin of 8.28%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meridian will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meridian Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. Meridian’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.48%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meridian

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MRBK. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Meridian by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 93,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,183,000 after buying an additional 2,838 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Meridian by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 40,406 shares of the company’s stock worth $511,000 after buying an additional 3,675 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Meridian in the 3rd quarter worth $128,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Meridian by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 171,249 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,801,000 after buying an additional 10,514 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banc Funds Co. LLC increased its stake in Meridian by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Banc Funds Co. LLC now owns 829,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,480,000 after buying an additional 37,450 shares in the last quarter. 58.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.