Short Interest in Meridian Co. (NASDAQ:MRBK) Expands By 36.9%

Meridian Co. (NASDAQ:MRBK) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,900 shares, an increase 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 presently 0.4 days.

Meridian Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MRBK traded up $0.11 during trading on Friday, reaching $16.72. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 47,888 shares, compared to its average volume of 34,190. 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 12 month low of $8.26 and a 12 month high of $17.33. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $187.93 million, a PE ratio of 11.53 and a beta of 0.81.

Meridian (NASDAQ:MRBK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $0.49 EPS 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Meridian will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meridian Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. Meridian’s payout ratio is currently 34.48%.

Institutional Trading of Meridian

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Meridian in the third quarter worth about $128,000. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Meridian by 10.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 40,406 shares of the company’s stock worth $511,000 after purchasing an additional 3,675 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 2,838 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 worth $1,801,000 after purchasing an additional 10,514 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Banc Funds Co. LLC lifted its stake in Meridian by 4.7% in the third quarter. Banc Funds Co. LLC now owns 829,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,480,000 after purchasing an additional 37,450 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRBK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Meridian from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Meridian from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “buy” 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.