Mercantile Bank Corporation (NASDAQ:MBWM) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Mercantile Bank Corporation (NASDAQ:MBWM) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $56.20.

MBWM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Hovde Group upped their price target on Mercantile Bank from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Mercantile Bank in a research note on Wednesday. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James Financial set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Mercantile Bank in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price 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 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Mercantile Bank in a report on Monday, December 29th.

Mercantile Bank Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of Mercantile Bank stock opened at $49.78 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Mercantile Bank has a 12 month low of $37.76 and a 12 month high of $55.77. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.47. The stock has a market cap of $859.85 million, a PE ratio of 9.12 and a beta of 0.89.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The financial services provider reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. Mercantile Bank had a return on equity of 13.54% and a net margin of 23.87%.The firm had revenue of $62.07 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.25 million. Research analysts predict that Mercantile Bank will post 4.83 EPS for the current year.

Mercantile Bank Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. This is a boost from Mercantile Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Mercantile Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.57%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,066,368 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,292,000 after acquiring an additional 27,403 shares in the last quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Mercantile Bank by 92.6% in the 3rd quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 497,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $22,383,000 after purchasing an additional 239,193 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Mercantile Bank by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 496,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,868,000 after purchasing an additional 5,800 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Mercantile Bank by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 494,367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,247,000 after purchasing an additional 41,540 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Mercantile Bank by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 405,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,839,000 after buying an additional 17,580 shares during the period. 58.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mercantile Bank Company Profile

Mercantile Bank Corporation (NASDAQ: MBWM) is the bank holding company for Mercantile Bank of Michigan, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Through its state-chartered subsidiary, the company provides a broad range of financial products and services to small and mid-sized businesses, professionals and consumers across West and Central Michigan.

The bank’s core offerings include deposit products such as checking, savings and money market accounts, alongside commercial and consumer loan portfolios.