Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) Shares Acquired by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) by 17.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 30,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,577 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned 0.19% of Mercantile Bank worth $1,358,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new stake in Mercantile Bank during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Mercantile Bank during the 3rd quarter worth $89,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Mercantile Bank in the third quarter valued at $202,000. Inceptionr LLC acquired a new position in Mercantile Bank in the fourth quarter valued at $253,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in Mercantile Bank by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,939 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $264,000 after acquiring an additional 599 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.63% of the company’s stock.

Mercantile Bank Stock Performance

NASDAQ MBWM opened at $44.03 on Friday. Mercantile Bank Co. has a 52-week low of $33.46 and a 52-week high of $52.98. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $47.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $714.65 million, a P/E ratio of 8.89 and a beta of 0.98.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.07. Mercantile Bank had a return on equity of 14.29% and a net margin of 21.99%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Mercantile Bank Co. will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Mercantile Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Mercantile Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Mercantile Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on MBWM shares. Hovde Group upgraded Mercantile Bank from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $54.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Mercantile Bank from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.14, for a total value of $147,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,810 shares in the company, valued at $826,043.40. This trade represents a 15.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 7,500 shares of company stock valued at $371,910 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.08% 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.