StockNews.com Lowers Middlefield Banc (NASDAQ:MBCN) to Sell

StockNews.com lowered shares of Middlefield Banc (NASDAQ:MBCN) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Friday morning.

Middlefield Banc Stock Down 9.8 %

MBCN stock opened at $27.51 on Friday. Middlefield Banc has a fifty-two week low of $20.61 and a fifty-two week high of $37.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $221.92 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.42 and a beta of 0.69. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $27.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.49.

Middlefield Banc (NASDAQ:MBCN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The bank reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $27.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.80 million. Middlefield Banc had a net margin of 15.06% and a return on equity of 7.74%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Middlefield Banc will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Middlefield Banc Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Middlefield Banc’s payout ratio is presently 39.02%.

Institutional Trading of Middlefield Banc

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MBCN. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in Middlefield Banc by 48.9% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,668 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 1,204 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Middlefield Banc during the 4th quarter worth $273,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Middlefield Banc by 14.2% in the first quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 32,017 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $765,000 after buying an additional 3,989 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Middlefield Banc by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 386,196 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,222,000 after buying an additional 3,782 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 31.72% of the company’s stock.

About Middlefield Banc

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.