Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) Receives Outperform Rating from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in a research report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $47.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price would suggest a potential upside of 36.11% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on MBWM. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded Mercantile Bank from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Hovde Group cut Mercantile Bank from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th.

Mercantile Bank Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of MBWM stock opened at $34.53 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $36.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.57. Mercantile Bank has a twelve month low of $23.89 and a twelve month high of $42.82. The company has a market capitalization of $556.62 million, a P/E ratio of 6.69 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.03. Mercantile Bank had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 25.58%. The company had revenue of $56.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $56.00 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.37 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Mercantile Bank will post 4.55 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Mercantile Bank

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MBWM. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 29.0% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 73,259 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,595,000 after buying an additional 16,465 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Mercantile Bank by 18.5% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 6,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $219,000 after purchasing an additional 966 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Mercantile Bank by 57.0% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 8,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 3,047 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Mercantile Bank by 61.6% during the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 3,985 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Mercantile Bank by 0.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,153,934 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,873,000 after purchasing an additional 5,838 shares during the last quarter. 58.63% of the stock is 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.