Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) Shares Acquired by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) by 3.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,611 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 304 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of Mercantile Bank worth $376,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Semanteon Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 10.1% during the third quarter. Semanteon Capital Management LP now owns 5,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $251,000 after acquiring an additional 528 shares during the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 15.1% during the third quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 11,636 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $509,000 after acquiring an additional 1,523 shares during the last quarter. 626 Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mercantile Bank during the third quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Creative Planning increased its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 29.8% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 18,907 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $827,000 after purchasing an additional 4,336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 16.1% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $142,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.63% of the company’s stock.

Mercantile Bank Price Performance

NASDAQ:MBWM opened at $50.39 on Monday. Mercantile Bank Co. has a one year low of $33.46 and a one year high of $51.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $813.29 million, a PE ratio of 10.12 and a beta of 0.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $45.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.86.

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

Mercantile Bank Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. Mercantile Bank’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.92%.

Insider Transactions at Mercantile Bank

In other Mercantile Bank news, Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,267,951.10. This represents a 13.51 % 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 ninety days, insiders sold 4,500 shares of company stock valued at $219,110. 3.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.