Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) Price Target Raised to $57.00

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) had its price objective increased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $56.00 to $57.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Mercantile Bank Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MBWM opened at $48.52 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $47.00 and a 200 day moving average of $45.39. The firm has a market cap of $783.11 million, a PE ratio of 9.74 and a beta of 1.01. Mercantile Bank has a one year low of $33.46 and a one year high of $52.98.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.07. Mercantile Bank had a net margin of 22.77% and a return on equity of 14.59%. As a group, research analysts predict that Mercantile Bank will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercantile Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.37 dividend. 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 3.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Mercantile Bank’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mercantile Bank news, Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.51, for a total value of $198,040.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly 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 this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 10,300 shares of company stock valued at $521,218 in the last 90 days. 3.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mercantile Bank

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Mercantile Bank by 108.7% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 174,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,074,000 after buying an additional 90,802 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Mercantile Bank in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,646,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 287,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,790,000 after purchasing an additional 40,055 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Mercantile Bank by 35.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 82,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,601,000 after purchasing an additional 21,411 shares during the last quarter. Finally, De Lisle Partners LLP boosted its holdings in Mercantile Bank by 46.9% in the 3rd quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP now owns 55,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,417,000 after purchasing an additional 17,649 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.63% of the company’s stock.

Mercantile Bank Company Profile

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.