Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) Shares Purchased by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) by 12.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,154 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Mercantile Bank were worth $439,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MBWM. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Mercantile Bank by 3.7% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,611 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $376,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 0.5% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 75,720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,310,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 16.1% during 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. Semanteon Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Mercantile Bank by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Semanteon Capital Management LP now owns 5,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $251,000 after purchasing an additional 528 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 25,321 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,027,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares during the last quarter. 58.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mercantile Bank Stock Performance

Shares of MBWM stock opened at $44.49 on Wednesday. Mercantile Bank Co. has a 12-month low of $33.46 and a 12-month high of $52.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $718.16 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.93 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.74.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $93.08 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $56.83 million. Mercantile Bank had a net margin of 22.77% and a return on equity of 14.59%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.30 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Mercantile Bank Co. will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

Mercantile Bank Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Mercantile Bank’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Mercantile Bank from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

Insider Activity

In other Mercantile Bank news, Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 5,800 shares of the company’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 sale, the director now directly owns 19,810 shares in the company, valued at $1,025,167.50. This represents a 22.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold 10,300 shares of company stock worth $521,218 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.08% of the company’s stock.

Mercantile Bank 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.