Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume Following Insider Buying Activity

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN – Get Rating) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Friday following insider buying activity. Approximately 207,760 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 261% from the previous session’s volume of 57,483 shares.The stock last traded at $25.40 and had previously closed at $27.26.

Specifically, Director Patrick D. O’brien acquired 3,999 shares of Merchants Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 9th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $23.25 per share, with a total value of $92,976.75. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $104,625. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 40.75% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Merchants Bancorp from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 28th.

Merchants Bancorp Stock Down 5.5 %

The company has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company’s 50-day moving average is $27.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.90.

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 30th. The company reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.05. Merchants Bancorp had a net margin of 36.21% and a return on equity of 25.30%. The company had revenue of $204.42 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.40 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Merchants Bancorp will post 4.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merchants Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 14th. This is an increase from Merchants Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. Merchants Bancorp’s payout ratio is 6.26%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merchants Bancorp

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,052 shares of the company’s stock worth $147,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,000 after buying an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. Credit Suisse AG lifted its stake in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Credit Suisse AG now owns 10,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,000 after buying an additional 644 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 63,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,470,000 after buying an additional 664 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Merchants Bancorp by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 15,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $372,000 after buying an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 23.14% of the company’s stock.

About Merchants Bancorp

(Get Rating)

Merchants Bancorp is a bank holding company, which specializes in multiple lines of business in banking and finance. It operates through the following segments: Multi-Family Mortgage Banking, Mortgage Warehousing and Banking. The Multi-Family Mortgage Banking segment engages in mortgage banking, specializing in originating and servicing loans for multi-family rental housing and healthcare facility financing, particularly for senior living properties.