Short Interest in Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) Declines By 13.9%

Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) saw a large drop in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 137,300 shares, a drop of 13.9% from the August 31st total of 159,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 75,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.8 days. Currently, 0.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.01, for a total transaction of $96,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 29,610 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,421,576.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.01, for a total transaction of $96,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 29,610 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,421,576.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The stock was 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 owns 31,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,540,355.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 10,500 shares of company stock worth $490,933. Corporate insiders own 3.08% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mercantile Bank

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Inspire Investing LLC raised its position in Mercantile Bank by 218.8% during the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 29,820 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,210,000 after acquiring an additional 20,465 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in Mercantile Bank during the first quarter valued at approximately $452,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Mercantile Bank by 8.1% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 46,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,791,000 after acquiring an additional 3,500 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Mercantile Bank by 16.7% during the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,653 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $410,000 after acquiring an additional 1,523 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Mercantile Bank by 9.2% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,660 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $179,000 after acquiring an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.63% of the company’s stock.

Mercantile Bank Stock Performance

MBWM stock opened at $42.56 on Monday. 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 stock has a market cap of $686.11 million, a P/E ratio of 8.25 and a beta of 0.96. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.46. Mercantile Bank has a 52 week low of $30.12 and a 52 week high of $51.21.

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 analysts’ expectations of $56.23 million. Mercantile Bank had a net margin of 23.99% and a return on equity of 15.52%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.27 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Mercantile Bank will post 4.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercantile Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This is a boost from Mercantile Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. Mercantile Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MBWM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Mercantile Bank from $42.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $51.00 target price (up from $47.00) on shares of Mercantile Bank in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.00.

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.