Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) Rating Increased to Hold at Stephens

Stephens upgraded shares of Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

MBWM has been the subject of several other research reports. Raymond James Financial set a $57.00 target price on shares of Mercantile Bank in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Hovde Group increased their price target on shares of Mercantile Bank from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Piper Sandler set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Mercantile Bank in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Mercantile Bank from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Mercantile Bank in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mercantile Bank has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.20.

Mercantile Bank Stock Down 1.1%

MBWM opened at $49.31 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.46. Mercantile Bank has a 1-year low of $37.76 and a 1-year high of $55.77. The stock has a market cap of $851.58 million, a PE ratio of 9.03 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 20th. The financial services provider reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.03. Mercantile Bank had a net margin of 23.87% and a return on equity of 13.54%. The firm had revenue of $62.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $62.25 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Mercantile Bank will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Mercantile Bank Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This is a positive change from Mercantile Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. Mercantile Bank’s payout ratio is 28.57%.

Institutional Trading of Mercantile Bank

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 5.6% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 68,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,989,000 after purchasing an additional 3,621 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Mercantile Bank by 21.2% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 92,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,998,000 after buying an additional 16,092 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Mercantile Bank by 4.3% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 9,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $407,000 after buying an additional 382 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Mercantile Bank by 4.1% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 57,731 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,508,000 after buying an additional 2,255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in Mercantile Bank by 21.0% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 15,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $693,000 after buying an additional 2,772 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.63% of the company’s stock.

About Mercantile Bank

Mercantile Bank Corporation (NASDAQ: MBWM) is the bank holding company for Mercantile Bank of Michigan, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Through its state-chartered subsidiary, the company provides a broad range of financial products and services to small and mid-sized businesses, professionals and consumers across West and Central Michigan.

The bank’s core offerings include deposit products such as checking, savings and money market accounts, alongside commercial and consumer loan portfolios.