Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Stake in Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) by 11.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,108 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,580 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Merchants Bancorp were worth $612,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Merchants Bancorp by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 224,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,563,000 after purchasing an additional 39,248 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its position in Merchants Bancorp by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 15,519 shares of the company’s stock worth $661,000 after acquiring an additional 2,581 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in Merchants Bancorp by 191.6% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 14,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $623,000 after purchasing an additional 9,614 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merchants Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $1,214,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Merchants Bancorp by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 795,381 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,869,000 after buying an additional 102,051 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on MBIN shares. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $56.00 price target (down from $58.50) on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Merchants Bancorp in a research report on Monday, September 9th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Raymond James downgraded shares of Merchants Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th.

Insider Transactions at Merchants Bancorp

In related news, Vice Chairman Randall D. Rogers sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.00, for a total value of $3,300,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 748,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,912,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Michael F. Petrie sold 22,050 shares of Merchants Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.34, for a total transaction of $999,747.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,990,545 shares in the company, valued at $90,251,310.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Randall D. Rogers sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.00, for a total value of $3,300,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 748,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,912,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 39.70% of the company’s stock.

Merchants Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of MBIN opened at $43.90 on Friday. Merchants Bancorp has a 1 year low of $25.78 and a 1 year high of $53.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.01 billion, a PE ratio of 6.89 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.44.

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.57 by ($0.08). Merchants Bancorp had a return on equity of 25.54% and a net margin of 23.14%. The firm had revenue of $359.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Merchants Bancorp will post 6.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merchants Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Merchants Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.65%.

Merchants Bancorp Company Profile

Merchants Bancorp operates as the diversified bank holding company in the United States. It operates through three segments: Multi-family Mortgage Banking, Mortgage Warehousing, and Banking. The Multi-family Mortgage Banking segment engages in the mortgage banking, which originates and services government sponsored mortgages, including bridge financing products to refinance, acquire, or reposition multi-family housing projects, and construction lending for multi-family and healthcare facilities.