Meridian Co. (NASDAQ:MRBK) Short Interest Down 20.0% in October

Meridian Co. (NASDAQ:MRBK) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,800 shares, a decrease of 20.0% from the October 15th total of 11,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 13,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.6 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRBK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Meridian from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. 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.

Meridian Price Performance

NASDAQ:MRBK traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $14.23. The stock had a trading volume of 24,993 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,533. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Meridian has a 12 month low of $8.26 and a 12 month high of $14.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $159.95 million, a PE ratio of 14.09 and a beta of 0.74.

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

Meridian Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meridian

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meridian by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 54,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $538,000 after acquiring an additional 2,396 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Meridian by 6.5% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Meridian by 3.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 93,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,183,000 after purchasing an additional 2,838 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 3,675 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banc Funds Co. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meridian by 4.7% during 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. 58.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.