DA Davidson Increases Earnings Estimates for Meridian Bank

Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) – Research analysts at DA Davidson increased their FY2026 earnings per share estimates for Meridian Bank in a research report issued on Tuesday, July 29th. DA Davidson analyst M. Navas now expects that the company will post earnings of $2.30 per share for the year, up from their previous estimate of $2.25. DA Davidson currently has a “Buy” rating and a $19.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Meridian Bank’s current full-year earnings is $2.07 per share.

Separately, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Meridian Bank from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th.

Meridian Bank Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:MRBK opened at $14.83 on Thursday. Meridian Bank has a 1 year low of $10.04 and a 1 year high of $17.33. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $167.28 million, a PE ratio of 9.21 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.07. Meridian Bank had a return on equity of 10.73% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm had revenue of $32.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $29.65 million.

Meridian Bank Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 11th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. Meridian Bank’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert M. Casciato bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The stock was bought at an average price of $13.79 per share, for a total transaction of $27,580.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 215,396 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,970,310.84. This represents a 0.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders acquired a total of 3,208 shares of company stock worth $44,416 in the last ninety days. 14.38% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meridian Bank

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Meridian Bank in the 4th quarter valued at about $186,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Meridian Bank in the 1st quarter valued at about $209,000. Citadel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Meridian Bank by 29.0% in the 4th quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 18,347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 4,129 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Meridian Bank by 16.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 18,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $253,000 after acquiring an additional 2,609 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp acquired a new stake in Meridian Bank in the 1st quarter valued at about $276,000. 58.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Meridian Bank

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.