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

Meridian Co. (NASDAQ:MRBK - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,500 shares, a decrease of 38.7% from the November 30th total of 10,600 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 17,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.4 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meridian

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Meridian by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 93,534 shares of the company's stock worth $1,183,000 after purchasing an additional 2,838 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meridian by 10.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 40,406 shares of the company's stock valued at $511,000 after purchasing an additional 3,675 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Meridian during the third quarter worth about $128,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Meridian by 6.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 171,249 shares of the company's stock worth $1,801,000 after buying an additional 10,514 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banc Funds Co. LLC raised its position in Meridian by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Banc Funds Co. LLC now owns 829,153 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,480,000 after buying an additional 37,450 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.56% of the company's stock.

Meridian Trading Down 3.2 %

NASDAQ MRBK traded down $0.44 during trading on Friday, reaching $13.40. 52,287 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,123. Meridian has a fifty-two week low of $8.26 and a fifty-two week high of $17.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market cap of $150.62 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.27 and a beta of 0.78. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $14.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.58.

Meridian (NASDAQ:MRBK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $51.15 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.57 million. Meridian had a net margin of 6.00% and a return on equity of 6.99%. Analysts predict that Meridian will post 1.29 EPS for the current year.

Meridian Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were given a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. Meridian's dividend payout ratio is currently 49.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on MRBK. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Meridian from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Meridian from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report 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.