Meridian (NASDAQ:MRBK) Stock Rating Reaffirmed as “Overweight” by Piper Sandler

Meridian (NASDAQ:MRBK)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating restated by equities researchers at Piper Sandler in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $20.00 target price on the stock, down from their previous target price of $24.00. Piper Sandler‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 21.43% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on MRBK. DA Davidson cut Meridian from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $22.00 to $20.00 in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings raised Meridian from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meridian currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.00.

Meridian Price Performance

MRBK traded up $0.12 on Thursday, hitting $16.47. 92,443 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 71,930. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.98. The business’s fifty day moving average is $18.85 and its 200 day moving average is $19.21. Meridian has a fifty-two week low of $13.92 and a fifty-two week high of $21.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $196.49 million, a P/E ratio of 8.62 and a beta of 0.65.

Meridian (NASDAQ:MRBK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 30th. The company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $30.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 million. Meridian had a net margin of 11.46% and a return on equity of 11.37%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meridian will post 1.47 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MRBK. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in Meridian by 17.0% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 25,609 shares of the company’s stock valued at $515,000 after buying an additional 3,718 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in Meridian by 15.5% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 60,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,140,000 after buying an additional 8,132 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meridian in the first quarter worth $345,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meridian by 103.9% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 64,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,287,000 after acquiring an additional 32,739 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meridian in the second quarter valued at $660,000. 58.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meridian Company Profile

Meridian Corporation is a bank holding company headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania. Through its principal subsidiary, Meridian Bank, the company provides commercial and community banking services to businesses, professionals and individuals in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Meridian Bank offers business lending, commercial real estate financing, construction loans, equipment financing, residential and consumer lending, deposit accounts, cash-management services and online banking. The company also provides mortgage banking and wealth management services, including investment and financial planning solutions.

Meridian was established in 2004 and serves customers through a network of banking offices in southeastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey and surrounding markets.