Meridian Co. (NASDAQ:MRBK) Short Interest Update

Meridian Co. (NASDAQ:MRBK) was the target of a large growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,900 shares, a growth of 36.9% from the December 15th total of 6,500 shares. Based on an average 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. DA Davidson upped 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 target price on Meridian from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th.

Meridian Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MRBK traded up $0.02 on Friday, hitting $15.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 33,628 shares, compared to its average volume of 29,589. Meridian has a one year low of $8.26 and a one year high of $17.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $172.08 million, a P/E ratio of 15.16 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $14.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $13.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Meridian (NASDAQ:MRBK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $51.15 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $26.57 million. Meridian had a return on equity of 6.99% and a net margin of 6.00%. Research analysts predict that Meridian will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Meridian Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. Meridian’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.51%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meridian

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Meridian during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $128,000. 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 purchasing an additional 3,675 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meridian by 3.1% during 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. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Meridian by 6.5% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Banc Funds Co. LLC boosted its stake in Meridian by 4.7% in the third quarter. Banc Funds Co. LLC now owns 829,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,480,000 after buying an additional 37,450 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.56% of the company’s stock.

Meridian Company Profile

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.