653 Shares in Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) Acquired by Picton Mahoney Asset Management

Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 653 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $29,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $376,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Mercantile Bank by 0.5% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Mercantile Bank by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $781,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in Mercantile Bank by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 11,864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $528,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its stake in Mercantile Bank by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,939 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 599 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.16, for a total transaction of $150,480.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $692,709.60. This represents a 17.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 7,500 shares of company stock valued at $371,910. Corporate insiders own 3.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MBWM shares. Hovde Group upgraded shares of Mercantile Bank from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $54.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Mercantile Bank from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd.

Mercantile Bank Stock Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ:MBWM opened at $44.58 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $723.58 million, a P/E ratio of 9.01 and a beta of 0.98. Mercantile Bank Co. has a 1-year low of $33.46 and a 1-year high of $52.98. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $46.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, equities research analysts anticipate that Mercantile Bank Co. will post 4.83 EPS for the current year.

Mercantile Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Mercantile Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. Mercantile Bank’s dividend payout ratio is 29.90%.

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.