Key Points
- Meridian Director Kenneth Warriner bought 1,000 shares for $16,180, increasing his stake by 32.79% to 4,050 shares.
- Meridian shares fell 1.8% to $16.22. The company’s latest quarterly EPS of $0.43 and revenue of $30.14 million both came in below analyst expectations.
- The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share, equivalent to an annualized yield of about 3.5%; analysts’ average rating is Hold with a $20 price target.
Meridian Corp (NASDAQ:MRBK - Get Free Report) Director Kenneth Warriner purchased 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $16.18 per share, for a total transaction of $16,180.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 4,050 shares in the company, valued at $65,529. The trade was a 32.79% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.
Meridian Stock Down 1.8%
Shares of Meridian stock traded down $0.29 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $16.22. 82,154 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 100,638. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.97. Meridian Corp has a 52 week low of $13.92 and a 52 week high of $21.67. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $18.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.16. The company has a market cap of $193.70 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.49 and a beta of 0.65.
Meridian (NASDAQ:MRBK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $30.14 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 million. Meridian had a return on equity of 11.34% and a net margin of 11.46%. Equities analysts expect that Meridian Corp will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Meridian Announces Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 9th. Meridian's dividend payout ratio is 29.32%.
Institutional Trading of Meridian
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Meridian in the 2nd quarter valued at $13,832,000. Fourthstone LLC grew its position in Meridian by 58.4% in the third quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 852,721 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,048,000 after acquiring an additional 314,331 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new position in Meridian during the third quarter worth $938,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Meridian by 9.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 434,002 shares of the company's stock worth $8,229,000 after acquiring an additional 38,719 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meridian in the 2nd quarter valued at $660,000. 58.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Meridian from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday, November 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Meridian from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday. DA Davidson lowered shares of Meridian from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $22.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $20.00 target price (down from $24.00) on shares of Meridian in a research note on Thursday, November 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $20.00.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on MRBK
About Meridian
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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