Raymond James Maintains ‘Outperform’ Rating for Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN)

On February 2, 2025, Raymond James reaffirmed its ‘Outperform’ rating for Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) in a recent report, as noted by Benzinga. The firm has increased its price target for the stock to $53.00 from the previous target of $50.00.

In related news, Piper Sandler raised its price target for Merchants Bancorp from $52.50 to $56.50 and assigned the stock an ‘overweight’ rating in a research report released on the same day.

Merchants Bancorp Stock Performance

Merchants Bancorp shares opened at $41.93 on Thursday, showing a decline of 1.5%. The company holds a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 1.15, and a quick ratio of 0.85. It boasts a market capitalization of $1.92 billion, a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 6.65, and a beta of 1.14. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.28 and a two-hundred-day simple moving average of $41.66. Over the past year, Merchants Bancorp reached a low of $34.16 and a high of $53.27.

The company recently presented its quarterly earnings report, where it announced earnings per share (EPS) of $1.85 for the quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.27 by $0.58. Merchants Bancorp also recorded a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 22.08%. Analysts project that Merchants Bancorp will achieve an average EPS of 5.17 for the current fiscal year.

Dividend Information

Merchants Bancorp has also declared its quarterly dividend, which was paid on January 2, 2025. Shareholders recorded on December 13, 2024, received a dividend of $0.09 per share. This results in an annualized dividend of $0.36, yielding a dividend yield of 0.86%. The company currently has a dividend payout ratio (DPR) of 5.71%.

Insider Activity

In other company news, insider Scott A. Evans sold 25,000 shares of Merchants Bancorp on January 29, 2025, at an average price of $43.10, bringing in a total value of $1,077,500. Following this transaction, Evans holds 27,606 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,189,818.60, marking a 47.52% decrease in his holdings. This transaction was disclosed to the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Moreover, Director Patrick D. O’Brien purchased 40,000 shares of Merchants Bancorp stock on November 18, 2024, at an average price of $25.00 per share, resulting in a total investment of $1,000,000. After this acquisition, O’Brien now holds 40,000 shares, maintaining a value of $1,000,000. Company insiders currently own 39.70% of the firm’s stock.

Investor Activity

Several hedge funds and institutional investors have made recent adjustments to their positions in Merchants Bancorp. Royce & Associates LP increased its stake by 143.1% in the third quarter, now owning 490,189 shares worth approximately $22,039,000. State Street Corp also raised its holdings by 4.7% during this period, owning 448,525 shares valued at $20,205,000 after adding 20,214 shares. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake by 3.0%, now holding 566,520 shares worth $25,476,000. Barclays PLC significantly increased its holdings by 351.8%, owning 28,312 shares valued at $1,273,000. Lastly, Franklin Resources Inc. saw an 85.3% increase in its position, now owning 33,338 shares valued at $1,504,000. Currently, institutional investors comprise 24.57% of the company’s stock ownership.

About Merchants Bancorp

Merchants Bancorp operates as a diversified bank holding company in the United States through three segments: Multi-family Mortgage Banking, Mortgage Warehousing, and Banking. The Multi-family Mortgage Banking sector focuses on originating and servicing government-sponsored mortgages, providing bridge financing products to refinance, acquire, or reposition multi-family housing projects, as well as construction lending for multi-family and healthcare facilities.

RaymondJames, Merchants, Earnings