Meridian Co. (NASDAQ:MRBK) Short Interest Update

Meridian Co. (NASDAQ:MRBK - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 15,500 shares, a growth of 68.5% from the January 15th total of 9,200 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 35,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.4 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Meridian Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MRBK traded down $0.11 on Friday, hitting $16.78. The company had a trading volume of 94,638 shares, compared to its average volume of 44,410. 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 has a 52-week low of $8.26 and a 52-week high of $17.33. The business has a 50 day moving average of $15.27 and a 200 day moving average of $13.76. The company has a market cap of $188.61 million, a PE ratio of 11.57 and a beta of 0.83.

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

Meridian Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. Meridian's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.48%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meridian

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Truffle Hound Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Meridian during the fourth quarter worth about $2,742,000. Banc Funds Co. LLC grew its stake in Meridian by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Banc Funds Co. LLC now owns 829,153 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,480,000 after purchasing an additional 37,450 shares in the last quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp grew its stake in Meridian by 161.4% during the 4th quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 48,587 shares of the company's stock valued at $666,000 after purchasing an additional 30,000 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in Meridian by 265.1% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 36,959 shares of the company's stock valued at $507,000 after purchasing an additional 26,835 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Meridian by 122.9% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 44,707 shares of the company's stock valued at $613,000 after purchasing an additional 24,648 shares in the last quarter. 58.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.