Middlefield Banc (NASDAQ:MBCN) Share Price Passes Below 50-Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Middlefield Banc Corp. (NASDAQ:MBCN) shares passed below its fifty day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a fifty day moving average of $25.79 and traded as low as $25.61. Middlefield Banc shares last traded at $25.90, with a volume of 7,554 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on MBCN. Hovde Group dropped their price objective on shares of Middlefield Banc from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Middlefield Banc from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

Middlefield Banc Stock Up 0.7 %

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.92. The company has a market cap of $210.65 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.59 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Middlefield Banc (NASDAQ:MBCN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.14. Middlefield Banc had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 7.47%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Middlefield Banc Corp. will post 1.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Middlefield Banc Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. This is a positive change from Middlefield Banc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Middlefield Banc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.75%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Middlefield Banc by 104.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,117 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in shares of Middlefield Banc by 122.4% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,319 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 726 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Middlefield Banc by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 17,265 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $484,000 after acquiring an additional 729 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Middlefield Banc by 0.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 102,516 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,952,000 after acquiring an additional 963 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Middlefield Banc by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 80,885 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,269,000 after acquiring an additional 1,224 shares in the last quarter. 31.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Middlefield Banc Company Profile

Middlefield Banc Corp. operates as the bank holding company for The Middlefield Banking Company that provides various commercial banking services to small and medium-sized businesses, professionals, small business owners, and retail customers in northeastern and central Ohio. It offers checking, savings, negotiable order of withdrawal accounts, money market accounts, time certificates of deposit, commercial loans, real estate loans, various consumer loans, safe deposit facilities, and travelers' checks.