Harbor Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN)

Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new position in Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 20,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $738,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Elser Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Merchants Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $994,207,000. PL Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 3,547.0% during the fourth quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,867,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,442,000 after acquiring an additional 6,678,788 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 3.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 566,520 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,476,000 after acquiring an additional 16,666 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP raised its holdings in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 566,245 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,651,000 after acquiring an additional 76,056 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 474,904 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,320,000 after acquiring an additional 48,881 shares during the period. 24.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Merchants Bancorp

In other news, insider Scott A. Evans sold 25,000 shares of Merchants Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.10, for a total value of $1,077,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 27,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,189,818.60. This trade represents a 47.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 39.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MBIN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Merchants Bancorp from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $53.00 price objective (up from $50.00) on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Merchants Bancorp from $52.50 to $56.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th.

Merchants Bancorp Stock Down 1.8 %

Merchants Bancorp stock opened at $38.22 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.06 and a beta of 1.16. Merchants Bancorp has a 1-year low of $34.16 and a 1-year high of $53.27. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40.

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.58. Merchants Bancorp had a net margin of 22.08% and a return on equity of 22.86%. Research analysts anticipate that Merchants Bancorp will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merchants Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. This is an increase from Merchants Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. Merchants Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.34%.

Merchants Bancorp Profile

Merchants Bancorp operates as the diversified bank holding company in the United States. It operates through three segments: Multi-family Mortgage Banking, Mortgage Warehousing, and Banking. The Multi-family Mortgage Banking segment engages in the mortgage banking, which originates and services government sponsored mortgages, including bridge financing products to refinance, acquire, or reposition multi-family housing projects, and construction lending for multi-family and healthcare facilities.