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

Meridian Co. (NASDAQ:MRBK - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,900 shares, a growth of 36.9% from the December 31st total of 6,500 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 22,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.4 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Meridian during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $128,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Meridian during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $139,000. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Meridian by 10.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 40,406 shares of the company's stock valued at $511,000 after buying an additional 3,675 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meridian by 3.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 93,534 shares of the company's stock worth $1,183,000 after buying an additional 2,838 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 10,514 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Meridian Stock Up 1.1 %

MRBK traded up $0.19 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $16.86. 60,553 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 43,270. Meridian has a 12-month low of $8.26 and a 12-month high of $17.33. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $15.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $189.45 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.62 and a beta of 0.83.

Meridian (NASDAQ:MRBK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.14. Meridian had a net margin of 8.28% and a return on equity of 10.01%. Analysts predict that Meridian will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meridian Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Meridian's dividend payout ratio is currently 34.48%.

Meridian Company Profile

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.