Meridian Co. (NASDAQ:MRBK) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Meridian Co. (NASDAQ:MRBK) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 42,500 shares, a drop of 17.3% from the February 28th total of 51,400 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 54,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.8 days. Currently, 0.4% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meridian

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Meridian by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 61,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $841,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Meridian by 410.2% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 52,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $716,000 after buying an additional 42,004 shares during the last quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. increased its stake in Meridian by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 432,071 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,924,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Citadel Advisors LLC raised its position in Meridian by 29.0% during the 4th quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 18,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 4,129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meridian in the 4th quarter worth $395,000. 58.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meridian Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of Meridian stock traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $14.30. 71,170 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 25,804. The firm has a market cap of $161.38 million, a PE ratio of 9.86 and a beta of 0.87. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $15.46 and its 200 day moving average is $14.56. Meridian has a 1 year low of $8.26 and a 1 year high of $17.33. 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 issued 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 net margin of 8.28% and a return on equity of 10.01%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meridian will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Meridian Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Meridian’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.48%.

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.