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

by · The Markets Daily

Meridian Co. (NASDAQ:MRBK – Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 42,500 shares, a drop of 17.3% from the February 28th total of 51,400 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 54,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.8 days. Currently, 0.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meridian

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Banc Funds Co. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meridian by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Banc Funds Co. LLC now owns 829,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,480,000 after acquiring an additional 37,450 shares during the period. First Manhattan CO. LLC. increased its position in shares of Meridian by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 432,071 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,924,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Meridian by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 210,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,889,000 after buying an additional 12,984 shares in the last quarter. Truffle Hound Capital LLC bought a new position in Meridian during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,742,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Meridian by 3.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 93,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,183,000 after acquiring an additional 2,838 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.56% of the company’s stock.

Meridian Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MRBK traded down $0.95 during trading on Thursday, hitting $13.35. 28,398 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 26,019. 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $15.42 and its 200-day moving average is $14.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.65 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.21 and a beta of 0.68. Meridian has a one year low of $8.26 and a one year high of $17.33.

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

Meridian Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.75%. Meridian’s payout ratio is 34.48%.

About Meridian

(Get Free Report)

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.

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