Meridian Co. (NASDAQ:MRBK) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Meridian Co. (NASDAQ:MRBK) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,800 shares, a decline of 20.0% from the October 15th total of 11,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 13,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.6 days.

Institutional Trading of Meridian

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Meridian by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 54,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $538,000 after purchasing an additional 2,396 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Meridian by 6.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 171,249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,801,000 after acquiring an additional 10,514 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Meridian in the third quarter worth $128,000. 58.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meridian Stock Performance

Shares of MRBK opened at $14.15 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Meridian has a 52 week low of $8.26 and a 52 week high of $14.45. The stock has a market cap of $159.05 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.01 and a beta of 0.74.

Meridian (NASDAQ:MRBK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.07. Meridian had a net margin of 6.00% and a return on equity of 6.99%. The company had revenue of $51.15 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.57 million. On average, analysts expect that Meridian will post 1.29 EPS for the current year.

Meridian Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be given a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.53%. Meridian’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on MRBK shares. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Meridian from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Meridian from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th.

About Meridian

Meridian Corporation operates as the holding company for Meridian Bank that provides commercial banking products and services in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Florida, and Maryland. The company offers various deposit products, such as demand non-interest bearing, demand interest bearing, savings accounts, money market accounts, and time deposits.