Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) Raised to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) was upgraded by Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price objective (down from $40.00) on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group set a $42.00 price objective on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $42.00 target price (up from $41.00) on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Merchants Bancorp from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merchants Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.00.

Merchants Bancorp Price Performance

Merchants Bancorp stock opened at $42.76 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $1.96 billion, a PE ratio of 11.31 and a beta of 1.27. Merchants Bancorp has a one year low of $27.25 and a one year high of $43.77.

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $193.49 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.80 million. Merchants Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.35% and a net margin of 16.02%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Merchants Bancorp will post 5.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Merchants Bancorp by 44.1% in the 4th quarter. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $747,000 after buying an additional 6,712 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 84.4% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 75,592 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,575,000 after acquiring an additional 34,603 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Merchants Bancorp by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,414,584 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,181,000 after acquiring an additional 36,184 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in Merchants Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in Merchants Bancorp by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,846 shares of the company’s stock worth $267,000 after purchasing an additional 865 shares during the period. 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.