Meridian Co. (NASDAQ:MRBK) Short Interest Update

Meridian Co. (NASDAQ:MRBK) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 51,400 shares, a growth of 227.4% from the February 13th total of 15,700 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 49,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.0 days. Approximately 0.5% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Meridian Stock Up 0.9 %

MRBK traded up $0.13 on Friday, hitting $13.90. The company had a trading volume of 61,333 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,525. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $156.24 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.59 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $15.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.29. Meridian has a 12-month low of $8.26 and a 12-month high of $17.33.

Meridian (NASDAQ:MRBK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.14. Meridian had a return on equity of 10.01% and a net margin of 8.28%. Analysts predict that Meridian will post 2.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meridian Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Meridian’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.48%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Meridian in the 3rd quarter worth $128,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Meridian in the fourth quarter valued at about $139,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meridian in the fourth quarter worth about $186,000. Citadel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meridian by 29.0% during the fourth quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 18,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 4,129 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Meridian by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 18,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $253,000 after buying an additional 2,609 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.56% of the company’s stock.

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.