Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 64,700 shares, a drop of 21.2% from the February 13th total of 82,100 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 72,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.9 days. Currently, 0.4% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Mercantile Bank Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of MBWM traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $44.58. 48,489 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 62,328. Mercantile Bank has a 12 month low of $33.46 and a 12 month high of $52.98. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $46.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.18. The company has a market capitalization of $723.58 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.01 and a beta of 0.98.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 14.29%. Equities research analysts predict that Mercantile Bank will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercantile Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Mercantile Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. Mercantile Bank’s payout ratio is 29.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on MBWM. Hovde Group upgraded shares of Mercantile Bank from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $54.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Mercantile Bank from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mercantile Bank

In other news, Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.16, for a total transaction of $150,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $692,709.60. This represents a 17.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,500 shares of company stock worth $371,910. Insiders own 3.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 2,328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 3.7% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,611 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 8,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $399,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 0.5% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 75,720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,310,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $781,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. 58.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.