Meridian Co. (NASDAQ:MRBK) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Meridian Co. (NASDAQ:MRBK - Get Free Report) 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 trading volume of 13,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.6 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Banc Funds Co. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meridian by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Banc Funds Co. LLC now owns 829,153 shares of the company's stock worth $10,480,000 after buying an additional 37,450 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted 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 purchasing an additional 10,514 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Meridian in the third quarter worth $128,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,396 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.56% of the company's stock.

Meridian Trading Up 0.6 %

MRBK stock traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $14.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 24,183 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,530. The company has a market cap of $159.95 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.14 and a beta of 0.74. Meridian has a 12 month low of $8.26 and a 12 month high of $14.45. The business's 50 day moving average price is $12.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

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

Meridian Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be given a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. Meridian's payout ratio is 49.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Meridian from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Meridian from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company 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.