Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) Cut to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

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

Mercantile Bank Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:MBWM opened at $46.06 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $748.48 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.14 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.25. Mercantile Bank has a 52-week low of $37.76 and a 52-week high of $52.98.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $60.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.02 million. Mercantile Bank had a return on equity of 13.52% and a net margin of 22.11%. Analysts expect that Mercantile Bank will post 4.83 EPS for the current year.

Mercantile Bank Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were given a $0.38 dividend. This is a boost from Mercantile Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. Mercantile Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.16%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mercantile Bank

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mercantile Bank by 88.9% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 45,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,035,000 after purchasing an additional 21,533 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Mercantile Bank by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 39,259 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,747,000 after purchasing an additional 2,032 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in shares of Mercantile Bank by 48.7% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 16,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $740,000 after purchasing an additional 5,447 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in Mercantile Bank by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 8,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $399,000 after buying an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Mercantile Bank by 54.0% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 132,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,907,000 after buying an additional 46,559 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.63% of the company’s stock.

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.