Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) Stock

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) had its price target lifted by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $40.00 to $42.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 1.70% from the company’s current price.

MBIN has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $38.00 price target (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group set a $42.00 price target on Merchants Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Merchants Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Merchants Bancorp from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Merchants Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.00.

Merchants Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MBIN traded up $0.86 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $41.30. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 69,898 shares, compared to its average volume of 145,398. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.89 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Merchants Bancorp has a 12-month low of $27.25 and a 12-month high of $43.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $34.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.06.

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.34. Merchants Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.35% and a net margin of 16.02%.The company had revenue of $193.49 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $170.80 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Merchants Bancorp will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Merchants Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 28th that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 6.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merchants Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MBIN. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in Merchants Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new position in shares of Merchants Bancorp in the third quarter worth about $57,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in Merchants Bancorp by 110.0% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 1,153 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. grew its stake in Merchants Bancorp by 44.6% during the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 2,649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 817 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its holdings in Merchants Bancorp by 121.6% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,010 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,000 after purchasing an additional 1,652 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.57% of the company’s stock.

About Merchants Bancorp

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ: MBIN) is the bank holding company for Merchants Bank, a regional financial institution headquartered in Buffalo, New York. Through its network of branches and digital platforms, the company offers a range of banking services across western and central New York. Merchants Bancorp operates as a full‐service commercial bank, serving small and medium-sized businesses, professionals, families and individuals in its core markets.

The company’s primary activities include deposit taking, commercial and consumer lending, mortgage origination, and treasury management services.