Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) Short Interest Down 38.3% in September

Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 84,700 shares, a decline of 38.3% from the September 15th total of 137,300 shares. Currently, 0.6% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 67,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.3 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Michael H. Price sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total value of $227,850.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,556 shares in the company, valued at approximately $982,306.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Michael H. Price sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total value of $227,850.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 21,556 shares in the company, valued at approximately $982,306.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.73, for a total transaction of $146,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,610 shares in the company, valued at $1,540,355.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,500 shares of company stock valued at $491,418 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mercantile Bank

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MBWM. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Mercantile Bank by 2.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 805,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,997,000 after buying an additional 21,616 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in Mercantile Bank by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 530,913 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,539,000 after acquiring an additional 8,100 shares in the last quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Mercantile Bank by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. now owns 363,806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,760,000 after acquiring an additional 2,532 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Mercantile Bank by 18.2% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 308,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,530,000 after purchasing an additional 47,528 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 260,129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,553,000 after purchasing an additional 34,725 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $51.00 target price (up previously from $47.00) on shares of Mercantile Bank in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Mercantile Bank from $42.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th.

Mercantile Bank Trading Up 5.3 %

Shares of MBWM stock opened at $43.91 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $708.71 million, a P/E ratio of 8.68 and a beta of 0.95. Mercantile Bank has a fifty-two week low of $30.35 and a fifty-two week high of $51.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $43.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.81.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.17. The business had revenue of $88.56 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $56.23 million. Mercantile Bank had a net margin of 23.99% and a return on equity of 15.52%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.27 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Mercantile Bank will post 4.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.