Insider Selling: Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) Director Sells 1,000 Shares of Stock

Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 1,000 shares of Mercantile Bank stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.22, for a total value of $50,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $593,098.20. This represents a 7.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Mercantile Bank Trading Down 1.3 %

NASDAQ MBWM opened at $48.63 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $785.37 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.82 and a beta of 1.00. 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 Co. has a one year low of $33.46 and a one year high of $52.98. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $46.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.77.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.07. Mercantile Bank had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 14.29%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Mercantile Bank Co. will post 4.83 EPS for the current year.

Mercantile Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.37 dividend. This is an increase from Mercantile Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. Mercantile Bank’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.09%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mercantile Bank

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MBWM. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Mercantile Bank by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 869,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,696,000 after acquiring an additional 2,252 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mercantile Bank by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 389,948 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,349,000 after purchasing an additional 29,604 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mercantile Bank by 3.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 376,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,484,000 after purchasing an additional 14,202 shares during the period. Tributary Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Mercantile Bank by 16.2% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management increased its stake in Mercantile Bank by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 286,710 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,756,000 after buying an additional 10,081 shares during the period. 58.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MBWM. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Mercantile Bank from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Hovde Group raised 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.

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.