Inspire Investing LLC Decreases Position in Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM)

Inspire Investing LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 390 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Mercantile Bank were worth $401,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MBWM. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in Mercantile Bank by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 11,864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $528,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in Mercantile Bank in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,646,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Mercantile Bank by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 82,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,601,000 after purchasing an additional 21,411 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Mercantile Bank by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,611 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Mercantile Bank by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $439,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154 shares in the last quarter. 58.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mercantile Bank Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MBWM opened at $49.20 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.56. The stock has a market cap of $794.58 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.94 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Mercantile Bank Co. has a 12 month low of $33.46 and a 12 month high of $52.98.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.07. Mercantile Bank had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 14.29%. As a group, analysts predict that Mercantile Bank Co. will post 4.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Mercantile Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.37 dividend. This is an increase from Mercantile Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. Mercantile Bank’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mercantile Bank news, Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 5,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.75, for a total value of $300,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,025,167.50. The trade was a 22.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 10,300 shares of company stock valued at $521,218 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Mercantile Bank from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Hovde Group raised Mercantile Bank from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $54.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd.

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.