Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) Upgraded by Hovde Group to Outperform Rating

Hovde Group upgraded shares of Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $54.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Mercantile Bank from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday.

Mercantile Bank Trading Up 3.8 %

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

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

Mercantile Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. This is an increase from Mercantile Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Mercantile Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.92%.

Insider Transactions at Mercantile Bank

In related news, Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 4,000 shares of Mercantile Bank stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.51, for a total transaction of $198,040.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 25,610 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,267,951.10. The trade was a 13.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 10,300 shares of company stock worth $521,218. 3.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mercantile Bank

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MBWM. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mercantile Bank by 17.2% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 5,611 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $228,000 after buying an additional 823 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in Mercantile Bank by 12.5% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 40,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,628,000 after acquiring an additional 4,452 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Mercantile Bank by 108.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 174,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,074,000 after acquiring an additional 90,802 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mercantile Bank during the second quarter valued at approximately $404,000. Finally, Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Mercantile Bank by 22.2% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 14,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $591,000 after purchasing an additional 2,644 shares during the period. 58.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.