Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Stock Position in Mercantile Bank Corporation $MBWM

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Mercantile Bank Corporation (NASDAQ:MBWM) by 16.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,017,076 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 147,299 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 6.26% of Mercantile Bank worth $44,182,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. West Michigan Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mercantile Bank during the first quarter valued at about $256,000. LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 12.1% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 321,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,965,000 after acquiring an additional 34,776 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 103.3% during the 1st quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 15,191 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $660,000 after acquiring an additional 7,720 shares during the period. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP bought a new position in shares of Mercantile Bank in the 1st quarter worth approximately $992,000. Finally, Efficient Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mercantile Bank in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $552,000. Institutional investors own 58.63% of the company’s stock.

Mercantile Bank Trading Down 0.7%

Mercantile Bank stock opened at $49.14 on Tuesday. Mercantile Bank Corporation has a one year low of $37.76 and a one year high of $52.98. The business’s fifty day moving average is $46.95 and its 200 day moving average is $45.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $798.53 million, a PE ratio of 9.75 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $60.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.02 million. Mercantile Bank had a return on equity of 13.52% and a net margin of 22.11%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Mercantile Bank Corporation will post 4.83 EPS for the current year.

Mercantile Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. This is a positive change from Mercantile Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. Mercantile Bank’s payout ratio is currently 29.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MBWM shares. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Mercantile Bank from $47.50 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Mercantile Bank from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised shares of Mercantile Bank from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.25.

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.