Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) Sets New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) shares hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $52.05 and last traded at $52.05, with a volume of 4261 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $50.39.

Mercantile Bank Trading Up 2.7 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $835.57 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.12 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $45.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.86.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $93.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $56.83 million. Mercantile Bank had a net margin of 22.77% and a return on equity of 14.59%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.30 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Mercantile Bank Co. will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

Mercantile Bank Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.78%. Mercantile Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.92%.

Insider Activity at Mercantile Bank

In other Mercantile Bank news, Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 4,000 shares of Mercantile Bank stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.51, for a total transaction of $198,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,610 shares in the company, valued at $1,267,951.10. This trade represents a 13.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 4,500 shares of company stock valued at $219,110. 3.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mercantile Bank

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MBWM. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Mercantile Bank by 99.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 32,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,441,000 after buying an additional 16,423 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 14,202 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Mercantile Bank in the third quarter valued at $202,000. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in Mercantile Bank by 119.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 29,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,295,000 after buying an additional 16,115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 75,720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,310,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. 58.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.