Sapient Capital LLC Trims Stake in Merchants Bancorp $MBIN

Sapient Capital LLC reduced its stake in Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) by 19.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 60,521 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,000 shares during the quarter. Sapient Capital LLC owned approximately 0.13% of Merchants Bancorp worth $2,605,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in Merchants Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 110.0% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 1,153 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL bought a new position in shares of Merchants Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP increased its holdings in Merchants Bancorp by 16.7% in the 2nd quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 6,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $228,000 after acquiring an additional 984 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Numerai GP LLC purchased a new stake in Merchants Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $254,000. Institutional investors own 24.57% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Julia L. Kaercher sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.20, for a total transaction of $496,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 727,103 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,136,085.60. This represents a 1.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 44.90% of the company’s stock.

Merchants Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MBIN opened at $55.72 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.19 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $49.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.57. Merchants Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $29.20 and a fifty-two week high of $56.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.21.

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.26. Merchants Bancorp had a net margin of 19.80% and a return on equity of 15.29%. The business had revenue of $182.22 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $179.00 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Merchants Bancorp will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merchants Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were given a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Merchants Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 8.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on MBIN. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed a “positive” rating and set a $49.00 price target (up from $46.00) on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a report on Monday, June 29th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $64.00 price target on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a report on Friday. Zacks Research downgraded Merchants Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered Merchants Bancorp from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.50.

Merchants Bancorp Profile

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.