Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Shares of Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $43.46, but opened at $46.80. Mercantile Bank shares last traded at $44.71, with a volume of 4,132 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Mercantile Bank Trading Up 1.5 %

The company has a market cap of $712.35 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.86 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. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $47.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.18.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $93.08 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $56.83 million. Mercantile Bank had a net margin of 22.77% and a return on equity of 14.59%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.30 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Mercantile Bank Co. will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Mercantile Bank

In other news, Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.51, for a total transaction of $198,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,267,951.10. This trade represents a 13.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders sold a total of 10,300 shares of company stock valued at $521,218 in the last quarter. 3.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mercantile Bank

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 376,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,484,000 after purchasing an additional 14,202 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 99.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 32,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,441,000 after purchasing an additional 16,423 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 218.8% in the 2nd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 29,820 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,210,000 after purchasing an additional 20,465 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 132.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 21,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $938,000 after purchasing an additional 12,239 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 119.3% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 29,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,295,000 after purchasing an additional 16,115 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.63% of the company’s stock.

Mercantile Bank Company 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.