Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) Upgraded at Hovde Group

Hovde Group upgraded shares of Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $54.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Mercantile Bank from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday.

Mercantile Bank Trading Up 2.5 %

NASDAQ MBWM opened at $49.20 on Wednesday. Mercantile Bank has a 12 month low of $33.46 and a 12 month high of $52.98. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $794.58 million, a PE ratio of 9.94 and a beta of 1.01.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.07. Mercantile Bank had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 14.29%. Research analysts forecast that Mercantile Bank will post 4.68 EPS for the current year.

Mercantile Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This is an increase from Mercantile Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Mercantile Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mercantile Bank news, Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 4,000 shares of Mercantile Bank stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.51, for a total value of $198,040.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 25,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,267,951.10. This trade represents a 13.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 10,300 shares of company stock worth $521,218. Company insiders own 3.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Mercantile Bank

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC raised its position in Mercantile Bank by 99.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 32,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,441,000 after buying an additional 16,423 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 3.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 376,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,484,000 after purchasing an additional 14,202 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in Mercantile Bank by 132.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 21,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $938,000 after buying an additional 12,239 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Mercantile Bank by 35.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 82,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,601,000 after buying an additional 21,411 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in Mercantile Bank by 83.7% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 31,301 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,368,000 after buying an additional 14,263 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.63% of the company’s stock.

About Mercantile Bank

Mercantile Bank Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Mercantile Bank of Michigan that provides commercial and retail banking services to small- to medium-sized businesses and individuals in the United States. It accepts various deposit products, including checking, savings, and term certificate accounts; time deposits; and certificates of deposit.